


I Wanna Dance With Somebody (Who Loves Me)

by writetherest



Category: Once Upon a Time (TV)
Genre: AU, Alternate Universe - Reality Show, F/F, brief mentions of homophobia, dancing with the stars au, lots of uses of social media, mentions of past Regina/Daniel, one week where Emma dances with Hook and Regina dances with Hood, small mentions of Snowing and Ruby/Peter, tiny mention of past Emma/Lily
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-09-20
Updated: 2015-09-20
Packaged: 2018-04-22 13:12:08
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 15
Words: 50,365
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4836626
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/writetherest/pseuds/writetherest
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Emma Swan doesn't consider herself a star, but she finds herself thrust into the spotlight and competing as a celebrity dancer on Dancing with the Stars. Over the course of ten weeks, she'll struggle to learn to dance with her professional partner - Regina Mills - and may just end up dancing with somebody who loves her.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. The Pitch

**Author's Note:**

  * Inspired by [Fanart 'I wanna dance with somebody (who loves me)'](https://archiveofourown.org/works/4824527) by [tinglingworld](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tinglingworld/pseuds/tinglingworld). 



> The amount of time I have spent ‘researching’ this fic is utterly ridiculous. I was a big fan of the show when I got the idea, but since then I have done some major ‘research’. I’ve tried to make this as true to life as I can. That said, I have obviously never been on Dancing with the Stars and there’s only so much that you can actually gather about behind the scenes things. So, please know that I am in no way associated with Dancing with the Stars and that I am in no way saying that this is actually what happens. This is a purely fictional look at the show.
> 
> Also, I am not, nor have I ever been, a dancer - professional or otherwise. Most of the dances that I talk about here are based on dances that have actually been featured on the show. Some are my own made up creations. No matter what, I’m not a dancer, so please forgive me if there are inaccuracies. I have taken some comments directly from the show to try to help keep it true to life.
> 
> I’m not associated with Dancing with the Stars or Once Upon a Time. I’m just having a little fun. Please enjoy and don’t sue me!
> 
> **
> 
> All the thanks in the world to **[fictorium](http://archiveofourown.org/users/fictorium/pseuds/fictorium)** for being the absolute best beta a girl could ask for and for dragging me across the finish line with this one. Plus, you know, just generally being the best friend a girl could ask for.
> 
> Thanks also to the fabulous **[Lrcbn](http://archiveofourown.org/users/Lrbcn/pseuds/Lrbcn)** for all her amazing cheerleading! She kept me inspired when I wanted to give up.
> 
> Thanks can't even begin to cover what I owe to **[tinglingworld](http://archiveofourown.org/users/tinglingworld/pseuds/tinglingworld)** for her incredible patience and understanding with me and for her awesome fanart. I love it so much and I'm so thankful for all your support!
> 
> And lastly, thanks to everyone who has participated in the Swan Queen Big Bang. It's because of your awesomeness that this event is so great and I'm so thankful for all of you.
> 
> **

**  


**THE PITCH**

**

"You will never believe who called!"

Emma rolls her eyes as she slips off her sunglasses and pulls off her Red Sox ball cap, letting her blonde curls fall down freely now that she's back within the safety of her apartment. "I probably won't care either."

"Oh no, Emma, this one, you'll care about." Lily's head appears over the top of the couch from where she's apparently been lying, marathoning some show or the other on Netflix, if Emma had to guess.

"Lils, I've told you already, I am so done with this whole 'Savior' thing. I don't want to do any more interviews, okay? And you promised you'd deal with all the calls so can't you just… do that? Please?" Emma knows she sounds whiney, but she's exhausted and oh so tired of the constant barrage of phone calls she's been getting. She slumps down on the large overstuffed chair that she had narrowly rescued from the clutches of the Boston City Sanitation truck, letting her head fall back into the worn out leather. "Or just take the damn phone off the hook."

"Emma." Lily says her name and it's about as serious as Emma's ever heard her before. "It was Dancing with the Stars."

"Shut up, Lily." Emma barks out a laugh, tossing the throw pillow that's bunched behind her back in the general direction of Lily's voice.

"Emma, I'm being serious."

Emma's eyes open, wide.

"What?"

"Dancing with the fucking Stars called, Emma!" Lily's bouncing on the couch now, rocking back and forth between her heels and her knees. "They want you to be on the show!"

"What?"

Lily leaps from the couch and lands in Emma's lap, putting both hands on her cheeks and pushing their foreheads together. "Dancing with the Stars wants you to be a contestant on their show, moron!"

"No." Emma shakes her head. "No."

"Yes! They do. I swear to god, Emma. I'm not kidding you."

"No, I mean – I mean, no. Lily. No, I'm not going on Dancing with the Stars. That's – that's crazy. No."

"Emma!" Lily shouts, in motion again, this time jumping from Emma's lap to the floor and beginning to pace around the room. "What the hell do you mean no? Are you kidding me right now?"

"Lily." Emma sighs, reaching up to push the black framed glasses that she's just put on down so that she can pinch the bridge of her nose. "I just got done telling you that I am done with all the interviews and –"

"This isn't an interview, Emma! This is you competing on the show."

"Where there will be interviews every week! Hell, probably every day! No. They just want to turn me into some kind of ratings monkey and I'm not doing it. I'm not."

Lily stops pacing and looks at Emma. She knows that these last few weeks have been hard on her friend. She's well aware that Emma's exhausted. And that's why Lily knows that Emma has to do this.

"If you agree to be on the show –"

"Which I'm not going to do!"

Lily continues on, undeterred. "They'll pay you $125,000. Just for agreeing to be on the show. That's not to mention the bonuses you get for each episode you last through after the first two. Emma, I did the math and if you stay until the finals, you can make $345,000."

"Lily."

"Plus, you'd have to move to LA for the duration of your time on the show and you're the one who's been complaining about staying here in Boston and wanting to get away and see the west coast. Here's your perfect opportunity. I even finagled a deal over the phone so that the production company would deal with getting us an apartment so we don't have to worry about it."

" _You_ finagled a deal. An apartment for _us_? What the hell are you, my manager?" Emma scoffs.

"Actually, as far as the Dancing team knows, yes." Lily smirks right back.

"Jesus, Lily!"

"Hey, did you or did you not tell me to handle all the calls? That makes me your manager, babe."

"Okay, manager, you're talking as if you already agreed to this for me."

Lily says nothing and Emma jumps up from the chair. "No. Lily. No!"

"They're sending the contract over tomorrow – priority mail. They want you, Emma. Bad."

"But I don't want them!" Emma explodes, the words coming out much harsher and louder than she wanted them to. Lily takes a small step back from her and Emma sinks down onto the chair again, yanking off her glasses and burying her head in her hands.

"I'm sorry." She says when she can finally catch her breath. She looks up and there are wet lines on her cheeks. "I just can't do this, Lily. I can't. This Savior stuff is bad enough, but then to go on that show and have all that publicity and that speculation and to have to dance with some professional male dancer while they tout their openness about my being gay and say what a hero I am, I just… I can't."

"They want you to dance with a woman." Lily says softly, sitting on one arm of the chair, grabbing Emma's hand while she digs her feet in under Emma's body. "Totally their idea by the way."

"They do?"

"Yeah." Lily plays with Emma's fingers for a little, waiting until she feels them relax before she continues. "Look, I get that this has been crazy for you. That's what happens when you decide to go rushing into burning buildings and save a bunch of orphans, these days." She nudges Emma with her foot. "And I know that you've been interviewed and hounded to death. But Emma, this is actually kind of a big deal. I mean, number one, that money will not hurt you. And number two, just think about what you being on the show – being open and actually dancing with another woman – could do for all those kids still struggling. Think what it could do for the world."

Emma lets out a shaky laugh. "So not only am I a hero because I saved some kids from a burning building, now I'm a hero for dancing with a woman on national TV as well? Bet you never imagined this when you said you wanted to stay with me."

"Please," Lily rolls her eyes and nudges their shoulders together. "You've always had a hero complex. So what do you say? Are we loading up the truck and movin' to Beverly?"

Emma pushes Lily off the chair in answer.

**

"This contract is… kind of crazy." Emma murmurs as she reads through the pages for what feels like the millionth time. She pushes her glasses back up her nose as she reads something off one of the pages. "I mean, 20 hours of rehearsal a week?"

"That's like four hours a day, with weekends off, you wimp. If you wanna win, you've gotta put in the time."

"Yeah, but I have to wear a mic for all of that. And be filmed. And get the producers' approval if we have dance rehearsal that's not in their specific studios. And –"

"And get final hair and makeup approval from them and do the television shows they tell you to do and not leave LA without clearing it with them. You've told me all of this a million times, I swear to god, Emma."

"It just seems a little… excessive."

"Emma, they're paying you a ton of money. And it's not like you have anything better to do."

"Well thanks." Emma huffs.

"You know what I mean." Lily smacks the back of her head. "Come on, you know you love the show. And before you start protesting, remember, there's a DVR subscription to it that I did not make, my friend."

"I hate you." Emma mutters.

"Right back at ya, baby." Lily puckers her lips up and makes kissing noises in Emma's direction before she turns serious again. "But seriously, are you doing this thing or not? Because I mean, if I was going to be paired up with Regina Mills, I'd be –"

"Wait." Emma looks up, the contract suddenly forgotten. "Regina Mills?"

Lily smirks. "Oh yeah, did I forget to tell you that the producers told me that that's who your partner will be? Must've slipped my mind."

"Lily!"

Lily laughs. Hard. Emma throws a pillow at her.

"That's such bullshit. The producers don't tell the celebrities who their partners are before the first meeting. And besides, she hasn't done the show for like, five years."

"Under normal circumstances, you're right. But they really want you to do the show, Emma, so they bent the rules a little bit. They all must be making an exception for you, huh? The producers and Regina." Lily grins. "So tell me, Miss Contract Reader Extraordinaire, is there a clause in there about falling in love with your dance partner? Because I fear you're going to break it."

"Shut up, Lily." Emma says, shoving her away, even as she reaches for a pen.

**

Emma most definitely does not spend the entire night after she drops the contract back in the mail falling down a YouTube rabbit hole of Regina Mills dance videos.

She most definitely does not do that.


	2. The Preparation

**

**THE PREPARATION**

**

They're expected to be in LA on Friday, which means that they have a week to get there. The production team offers them first class air fare, but Emma just can't see leaving her trusty yellow Bug behind.

She and Lily had attempted to steal it when they'd first landed in Boston, only to learn that they couldn't hot wire it because it wouldn't run. The guy who owned it, who had been watching the whole scene in amusement from his front porch, tossed the keys at Emma and told her if she wanted a car that didn't run that badly, she could have it.

It took her almost a year, but she finally got the Bug up and running. It's been a faithful friend ever since.

So they pack her up with all the essentials and head out on their cross-country road trip. The fact that they make it in four days without killing each other is amazing.

The apartment that they pull up to at the end of the journey is even more amazing. It's at least twice the size of their apartment in Boston, with the newest furnishings and decorations.

Lily smirks and Emma smacks her before she can say I told you so.

**

"Miss Swan." The tall blonde smiles at her, but it's a business smile, Emma can tell. "So wonderful to meet you and have you on board. I'm Sarah Fisher, one of the producers. I'll be giving you the basic run down today of what's going to happen over the next few weeks."

Emma shakes her hand and offers a smile of her own that's also not exactly the real deal. "Nice to meet you."

"So, tomorrow you'll do your official first meeting with your partner." Emma notices that she doesn't say a name and she wonders, not for the first time, if Lily had just been yanking her chain about Regina Mills – possibly even about being paired with a female professional at all.

"Since we haven't announced any of the cast yet, we'd like to keep it under wraps, so you'll be meeting her at her home." Well, that answers that at least. She will be dancing with a female pro.

"She has a dance studio on the bottom floor of her home. Your production team will be there to film the meeting and for you to get to know them. You'll do some basic rehearsals tomorrow. You won't know your song yet, but your partner will know your dance style. We also encourage you to take a little time to get to know your partner tomorrow. We find that forging a relationship with them early on is very important. "

Emma nods, trying to take it all in, and wondering just how much of this 'forging a relationship' is going to be done on camera.

"After tomorrow's meeting, we'll need to do some promotional shots – photos, intro videos for the show and commercials, that sort of thing. We'll shoot those on Sunday. More information about locations and things will be given to your manager. Then, you'll need to lay low until Tuesday, when we have the cast reveal on Good Morning America. After that, you'll start full rehearsals, just as contracted. You'll have roughly two weeks to practice before we premiere. Camera blocking is always on Sunday night before the live show on Monday. Dress rehearsal and the show are on Mondays."

Emma nods again, feeling a bit like a bobble head. Lily is aware of pretty much all of this, she's sure, but she's still glad her friend is there. Although she may not have wanted her for a manager, she's a pretty good one to have, Emma can admit.

"Now, we're going to be doing more to give the fans access this year, so you and your partner will need to pick a team name that can be used on social media as a hashtag. We'll reveal it after the Good Morning America reveal. And after the reveal we'll want you to use social media as much as possible in promotion for the show. That's where the hashtag comes in. There are guidelines of course, but we'll go over those later."

Emma feels like her brain is about to explode, so she's thankful when Lily steps in. "Emma's already got a Twitter and Instagram profile set up. Luckily, she'd had them both before everything broke, so it doesn't seem like she just started using them for the show, although we have been posting a little more actively lately."

Sarah nods, seeming pleased. "Excellent. That will be very beneficial." She quickly turns her attention back to Emma. "Now, we'll also be having you do occasional all access rehearsals. They'll be live webcasts where you will be able to showcase some of your rehearsal – we obviously cannot play any songs, reveal any costumes or show full routines – for the fans. It's just a sneak peek to get them excited. You'll have at least one, if not two, all access rehearsals before the premiere, then additional ones depending on how far you go. A schedule will be provided to you each week of when your rehearsal times are, along with your all access times in those time frames. Your pro will know all of this and be able to help you with it. So, any questions?"

Emma blinks. She feels like she should have a million questions, but at the moment, nothing is coming out of her mouth. "I don't think so?" It's definitely more of a question than an answer and she looks to Lily for confirmation.

Lily smiles. "Naturally, all of this is a little overwhelming for Emma right now. She's still getting used to the spotlight. But she's very grateful for this opportunity. I think we're fine with everything at the moment, but if we do have any questions, I know how to get in contact with you."

Sarah smiles and nods then, pleased with Lily's efficiency. "Excellent." She stands and shakes both their hands. "Then I wish you the best of luck, Emma."

"Thanks." Emma manages.

**

"You're coming with me, right?" Emma asks as she tugs at her capri dance leggings. She feels awkward in them, like a little girl trying to play dress up. She's already nixed the dance skirt that Lily laid out for her and also ignores the dance tank for one of her old white tank tops. At least she's wearing the dance shoes – which feel slightly uncomfortable.

"As your manager, I should be there." Lily nods, then grins. "And as your friend, I'm not missing this."

"Jerk." Emma laughs, but she's relieved, too.

"Come on. Your car is waiting."

Emma feels the butterflies begin in her stomach.


	3. The Meeting

**

**THE MEETING**

**

The house they pull up to is gorgeous. It's large and white – what Emma would easily call a mansion, but she's seen some of the neighboring homes here in LA and this one looks almost small in comparison.

Lily lets out a whistle as the car stops and the driver gets out to help them out of the car. Emma's glad that she's not the only one who's amazed by the house.

The front door opens and a man steps out. "Hello. Welcome. I'm Claude and I'll be taking you downstairs and getting you all set up."

"Hi. I'm Emma. Thanks."

She takes in as much as the house as she can while she follows after Claude. A large spiral staircase, a mostly black and white color scheme. He stops in a small little alcove with a door in it. There's a table next to it where a mic pack is laying. "Gotta mic you up." He says, holding up the mic pack.

"Oh. Right. Of course." Emma nods, standing perfectly still as Claude moves around her body, attaching the mic pack to the back of her leggings and threading the mic cord up through her tank top. She should probably feel weird about this, but her mind is so stuck on what's about to happen that she can't seem to work up any other emotions.

"Alright. I think I got you all hooked up. We'll check it downstairs to be sure." He says as he opens the door, which leads to a set of steps. Emma follows him, feeling ready to throw up. When they reach the bottom, Claude moves forward, while she stays planted on the bottom step.

Claude opens a door and peeks his head around, which looks rather ridiculous – a large man like him, peeking around the corner in such a fashion. Then he looks back. "Can you give us a one, two?"

Emma blinks, not understanding.

"Say something, Emma." Lily hisses behind her.

"Oh." Emma looks down at the microphone as though just realizing it's there. "Uh, one, two?"

Claude looks into the room, then back out at them. "You're all good." He offers her what she thinks is to be a reassuring smile before looking back into the room. "Ready?"

He must receive an affirmative because he turns and nods to Emma. She doesn't move from the bottom step, her feet suddenly frozen. Everything seems real now. She's actually going to be doing this show. She's actually going to be dancing with a professional who is waiting right behind the door.

"Emma, go." Lily gives her a not-so-gentle nudge, and Emma stumbles forward off the step, grabbing the door to steady herself.

She can do this. She opens the door and steps into the room.

**

"Oh my god." She gasps when she gets her first look at her partner. She's not sure exactly what the oh my god refers to – the fact that there's actually a full production team, including camera man, in the room, the fact that the woman standing in the studio really is Regina Mills, or the fact that Regina Mills is absolutely, stunningly, breathtakingly gorgeous.

She knows she's supposed to be reacting more – going over and hugging her partner or whatever – but she really can't move. She's dumbfounded by the sight of Regina Mills.

"Oh my god." She says again and she wonders, vaguely, just how ridiculous she must look.

"You're my partner?" Regina asks, trying to get any kind of reaction out of her, she's sure.

"Hi," is the best she can offer. She tries to smile, but she's not quite sure it actually works.

"Hello." Regina smiles – _smiles_ and it's so beautiful. This is going to be a disaster, because Regina is gorgeous and Emma can't even speak, let alone move or god forbid, dance. "I'm Regina."

"Swan." She finally manages and then winces. "Emma Swan."

There's the sound of a giggle from somewhere and it finally seems to snap her out of her stupor. She moves forward. "I'm sorry. I'm just – I can't believe that you're my partner."

Regina laughs then and Emma's stomach goes somersaulting out of her body, she's sure of it. "Is that a good thing?"

"Yes! Of course, yes. I'm so excited, I swear. I'm just – you're just –" 

"It happens." A small voice says and before Emma can find the source of it, it continues. "You should probably hug her now. For the cameras, you know. Make it look good."

"Henry." Regina scolds, but Emma's already moving forward. She embraces Regina, holding on to her tightly before pulling away and rubbing a hand over her face.

"God, I'm so embarrassed."

"It's alright." Regina assures her.

"You must think I'm an idiot." Emma knows her face is bright red. She can't believe she was such a dork, especially in front of the cameras.

"Then she's already gotten to know you." Lily sasses from where she's been standing by the door and Emma refuses to look at her.

"Well," Regina shakes her head, suddenly all business. "We really should get down to it. So… show me what you've got."

Emma blinks. "Excuse me?"

"I need to know what I'm working with here. So dance."

"I – but – there's no music and – I don't –"

"Dance." Regina says again and it's so commanding that Emma starts to move. She's sure she looks like an absolute idiot, dancing around to no music, trying to figure out what exactly it is that Regina is looking for, but then, she's starting to realize that she's probably going to look like an idiot for this entire process.

"Well." Regina says a few minutes later, when Emma has finally stopped dancing. "We've got work to do, that's for sure. But you're not totally helpless."

"Thanks?" Emma murmurs, watching as Regina moves closer to her.

"Our first dance is the Viennese Waltz."

"Okay." Emma nods, although that really doesn't mean much to her.

"Today we're going to just go over some basics." Regina steps in close to her, reaching for her arms and starting to try and position her. Emma sucks in a breath. She knows that to dance you have to be close to your partner, but knowing it and experiencing it are turning out to be two different things.

"Have – have you ever done this before?" She asks, studying Regina.

Regina's eyebrow raises. "Danced? I think I've done it a time or two."

Emma rolls her eyes. "No, I mean… I know you've danced before, obviously. But… this." She motions at the small distance between them. "Like, with a woman."

Regina gives her a once over, as though she's looking for something before she replies. Emma wonders if she'll ever be able to read her – if she can ever actually get her wits about her when Regina's around.

"Honestly, no. I haven't danced with just another woman before and I've never choreographed dances for just two women." Regina straightens then, looking every bit the Queen of the Ballroom that she's known as. "But it will be fine, as long as you listen to me. Now, we need to work on your frame."

Emma laughs and stands up straighter, suddenly feeling much more confident.

** 

It goes pretty well, for a first rehearsal. At least, in Emma's opinion.

They don't have their song, so Regina can't start choreographing yet, but they spend time working on Emma's frame and some basic steps so that they can both get used to Regina leading them.

Emma tries to remember everything that Regina tells her so that she can go through it all again when she's back at the apartment. It's how she managed to get her GED – by going over things again and again and again until they'd sunken in. She hopes the same will be true for the dancing.

When they call it quits is when she finally gets to meet the production team that will apparently be theirs for the season. Leroy, the cameraman, seems gruff at first, but Emma catches glimpses of a sweet side. He's worked with Regina on all of her seasons, so that's a relief in some ways.

The other two members of the team are Tom and Walter. They deal with the sound and other, general things. They make a good team, Emma can already tell, and she thinks she'll enjoy working with them.

"See ya tomorrow, sisters." Leroy calls as they head up the steps with Claude following behind, having undone Emma's mic with the same efficiency he'd had when he put it on her.

Without the cameras and all the equipment and people, the room seems much larger, and Emma gets a better look at the owner of the voice that she hasn't yet been able to place. He's a small boy, perched on a chair in one of the corners, a book folded in his lap and his eyes focused completely on her. Something about his gaze is even more nerve-wracking than the cameras.

"Emma, this is my son, Henry." Regina gestures to him.

"Did you really run into a burning building and save all those kids?" Henry asks as he jumps up from the seat.

"Yeah. I did." Emma shrugs, as though it isn't a big deal. Henry's eyes light up.

"That's so cool!" He looks past Emma, to where Lily is still standing, leaning against a wall. "Are you Emma's girlfriend?" He asks as he moves over to her.

"Henry!"

"Sorry… partner?" Henry tries and Lily laughs.

"I'm Lily." She sticks out a hand to him. "Emma's best friend and manager."

"So you don't have a girlfriend?" Henry shakes Lily's hand before quickly turning back to Emma.

"Henry." Regina moves over, placing her hands on his shoulders. "Stop asking such personal questions. We've just met Emma."

"It's okay, kid." Emma smiles at him. "And to answer your question, no, I don't currently have a girlfriend."

"But you are gay, right?"

"Yes." Emma nods. "I am gay."

"Cool. So, your turns were getting better, but you definitely need to work on your arms. And maybe try to not walk like a linebacker."

"Henry Daniel Mills!"

Emma bursts out laughing. "Wow and I thought I needed to afraid of Gold and the rest of the judges. Turns out you're my biggest critic, huh, kid?"

"Just trying to help."

"Yes, well, it's not helping." Regina scolds. "And just for that, you won't be staying for any more rehearsals."

"Aww, mom!" Henry protests.

"Actually, it kind of is. Helping. I mean, it's nice to have another perspective on it. If it's okay with you, the kid can stay."

"Awesome!"

Regina looks at her for along time then before smiling and affectionately mussing Henry's hair. "Yes, well, for the time being, you need to get upstairs and leave Emma and I to do some talking."

Henry looks ready to protest again and Lily steps in. "Actually, I think I'm going to head back to the apartment. The driver said he can come back for you later, Em. Maybe you could show me out, Henry?"

"Yeah, sure." Henry nods and quickly bounds up the stairs. Lily laughs and follows after him.

"So," Regina smiles at Emma. "How would you like a glass of the best apple cider you've ever tasted?"

**

Regina wasn't kidding about the apple cider, Emma thinks as she takes another sip, looking up at the Hollywood sign, which Regina has a perfect view of from her back deck. There's also a hot tub that Emma's already been eyeing up, as well as a gorgeous in-ground swimming pool.

"So, tell me about yourself." Regina says as she settles into her chair.

"Not much to tell, really." Emma shrugs. "I'm twenty-eight. I live in Boston. Until about six months ago, no one had ever heard of me. Now, here I am, on Dancing with the Stars."

Regina does that looking thing again, like she's trying to see through Emma. "And why are you on Dancing with the Stars?"

"Huh?" Emma's brow furrows. "The producers contacted me and –"

"No, I mean why are _you_ on the show. Why did you say yes to it?"

"Oh, well, I mean –" Emma stumbles, still not sure herself.

Regina clears her throat. "May I be frank with you, Miss Swan?"

"Yeah. So long as you call me Emma and not Miss Swan."

"Alright, Emma." Regina nods. "I am well aware of the reasons that most people do this show. They're trying to get back or extend their fifteen minutes of fame or they're in it for the money. Some people are competitive and that adds to it or they're doing it for a cause or to prove that they can."

"You don't think anyone's in it just to learn to dance?"

"No. I don't." Regina says as though it's obvious. "What I want to know, Emma, is what is your reason for doing the show? That way, I know what kind of effort I need to put into this."

"Look, I'm not gonna lie, the money was a big factor for me. I don't care about the fame thing – I'd prefer to live without it, really. But I could certainly use the cash. That said, the thing that made me really decide to do the show was something that Lily said." Emma takes another drink of cider. "She said that I should think about what me being on the show, being openly gay and dancing with a woman, could do for the kids out there who are still struggling with their sexuality. And I guess that's what really made me say yes – the thought that I could help somebody out there who might be struggling. So I guess I'm doing it for a cause, if we go by your logic."

"Always the Savior, huh?" Regina smiles.

"Oh god, please don't." Emma throws her head back.

"What?"

"Please don't call me that. I hate that name."

"Why on earth would you hate it? You ran into a burning building not once, not even twice, but three times to carry children to safety. I'd say that makes you a savior."

"No, it makes me a decent human being." Emma denies it. "And possibly an idiot because as I was told by firefighters later, it was a crazy thing that I did. But I still think that anyone would've done what I did. Any good person would've done it. It just so happens that I was the one that was there, I was the one that went in. That's all."

"I don't know about that. I mean, I like to think of myself as a good person, but I can't imagine…"

"Yes, you can. If Henry was in a burning building, you're saying you wouldn't go in after him?"

"Of course I would. But I'm his mother. He's my child."

"And they're no one's child." Emma says simply. "Which is why I had to do it. Because I know what that feels like… to be the foster kid that has no one. And I wasn't going to let them die because of it. But like I said, it was the decent thing to do and I hate the stupid nickname and all the publicity I've gotten since then. So please don't call me that."

"Fair enough." Regina nods.

"What about you?" Emma asks then. "You haven't been on the show in five years. Why come back now?"

Regina is quiet for a long time. So long that Emma thinks she isn't going to answer her. But then, finally, she speaks.

"If we're being honest, then it was because I was contractually obligated to the show for another season." Regina swallows hard. "As you might know, five years ago, my husband Daniel died. He was also a professional on the show. It was all very sudden. An aortic aneurysm. One minute he was dancing and the next…"

Emma's hand reaches out and closes over Regina's squeezing it softly. She'd known, of course, that Daniel had died, had heard about it in the news, but she'd never really connected the fact that he was Regina's husband. Now her heart breaks for Regina.

"I couldn't bring myself to dance for nearly a year afterwards. And even when I was able to start dancing again, I struggled with dancing with other men. I knew I wouldn't be up to dancing on the show with a man. There's so much scrutiny. I couldn't handle it. Then Sarah called and told me about you, about their plans to have you on and to dance with a woman. She reminded me that I did still owe them a season. And I thought… why not? Daniel loved dance. He wouldn't have wanted me to quit dancing. So here I am."

"Well," Emma smiles at her then, "I'm really glad that you decided to take a chance on me."

"I think I am too." Regina ducks her head, then looks back up with a chuckle. "So. Tell me about your musical tastes. I need to know the kind of direction I want to go with my song selections for the dances."

"Oh. You get to pick the songs?" Emma's surprised by this.

"Not exactly. This first week's song is chosen entirely by the production team. But we do get to give suggestions for songs that we'd like to use for certain dances. And depending on the theme weeks this year, you may have some input on songs as well. They have to get the licensing clearances, so sometimes we don't always get what we want. But I can try."

"Okay." Emma nods, thinking it over. "I like stuff from the 80s, I guess. Power ballads, all that stuff. I think Michael Jackson is a musical genius. But I like new stuff too. Pop, rock. I'm not really that into hip hop or country but… whatever you think is best, really. I trust you."

"That's good. Because trust is the most important thing in a dance partnership." Henry says as he comes out onto the patio and drops down on his mother's lap. "Right, Mom?"

"That's right." She smiles at him.

"So, did you decide on your team name yet?"

Regina rolls her eyes at that. "No. We haven't touched on that yet."

"How do people usually do this whole team name thing?" Emma asks, trying to think of something.

"Some people do it like a celebrity couple name, mashing the names together like Brangelina. So you guys could be… Remma? Emina?"

Both Emma and Regina wrinkle their noses. "Uh, I don't think either of those are very good, kid."

"We could try mixing first and last. Like Swagina."

Emma bursts out laughing at that one. Regina quickly vetoes it.

"Or your lasts… Mills-Swan."

"Or Swan-Mills." Emma offers. "That's not too bad."

"Yeah, but it's not good either." Henry frowns. "We need something memorable. Something that's catchy. Like, you're known as the Savior so maybe we could…"

"Henry, Emma doesn't wish to be called the Savior." Regina tells him.

Henry wrinkles his nose at that information, but then moves on from it. "Okay, so… what other nicknames do you have? Mom is called the Queen of the Ballroom and… wait! That's it!"

"What?" Emma asks as she watches Henry jump up from Regina's laugh.

"Your last name is Swan." Henry points at her. "And mom is known as the Queen of the Ballroom, plus her name means queen… you guys have to be Team Swan Queen!"

"As in, Black Swan, I'm the Swan Queen, she dies while dancing, Swan Queen?" Emma asks skeptically.

"It's perfect! It has both your names and a dance connotation – which most people will think of as being from Swan Lake. And unless you're planning to go all crazy in the search for perfection, I think you'll be okay."

Emma laughs and looks at Regina. "What do you think?"

"It could be worse." Regina shrugs, then offers a smile. "I'll call Sarah and let her know."

"Cool. So, it's official. We're Team Swan Queen."

"Yes. We're Team Swan Queen."


	4. The Reveal

**

**THE REVEAL**

**

"They're really going all in with the whole Savior thing, huh?" Regina laughs when she catches sight of Emma the next day.

"Apparently." Emma tugs at the white dress they've put her in. It's got a long white train that they're planning on blowing behind her with a fan for the photoshoot. Then they'll change her into a shorter white dress for the video shoots.

"It looks good."

"Thanks." Emma smiles. "You look great too."

"I wasn't sure if I liked it when they first showed it to me. Not used to not being in a dress. But I think it's growing on me." Regina's wearing black slacks and a crisp white shirt. It's similar to what the rest of the men are wearing, but decidedly feminine as well. She's got some killer heels on too.

"Emma, Regina, we're ready for you."

Regina takes her hand with a smile. "Here we go."

**

The pictures turn out to actually be a lot of fun to shoot and Emma can't deny that they look gorgeous when they show her a few of the finished products.

"Wow. I actually look like I could be a dancer."

Regina's hands rest on her shoulders. She feels the heat of them seeping into her skin. "That's because you are a dancer, now."

The video shoots are a little awkward, because they're in front of a green screen for most of them, but she's able to move better in the shorter dress and she has fun with it. She and Regina dance around together and then they film just her, laughing and dancing.

They also take time to shoot her first interview that day, the one where she talks about why she's famous and why she's on Dancing with the Stars. She makes it through all of that without a hitch and thinks that maybe she'll be able to survive this after all.

**

"It's too early." Emma moans as she slips into the makeup chair at Good Morning America. The cast reveal is scheduled for the eight o'clock hour in New York, which means five o'clock here in Los Angeles. In past years they've flown the cast to New York, but this year, they decided not to, saying it would make it easier for them to keep rehearsing. Emma's not planning on rehearsing today though, so she hopes Regina isn’t either.

"Not a morning person, I take it?" Regina asks over the rim of her Starbucks cup. She looks gorgeous and Emma looks awful and life is so not fair.

"Not when you call three-thirty morning, no." Emma closes her eyes while the hair and makeup people get to work. It's still so surreal, having people brushing and styling her hair and putting makeup on for her. But at least she can stay in a semi-comatose state for a bit longer with them doing all the work.

"They're announcing us last." Regina says conversationally and Emma hums in response.

It's not surprising, really. Save the biggest bang for last and all that. Nothing is going to make more shockwaves than them, Emma's sure.

She wonders how big the fallout is going to be. If the production company and the network are willing to take the shot, she supposes that they can't think it's going to be that bad. But she's also aware of just how vocal and hurtful people can be. She knows that they're supposed to start rocking the social media today, but she's pretty sure that she's going to just crawl into bed and hide away all day once this is over.

Since she feels like she's playing pretend anyway – pretending to be famous, pretending to be able to dance – she'll just pretend to be Scarlett O'Hara for a bit. After all, tomorrow is another day.

** 

The greenroom is bustling with people. All of the celebrities and the professionals, plus the hosts of the show – Sidney Glass and Tina Bell – are milling around with production staff from Good Morning America. Emma's feeling pretty damn uncomfortable – mostly because she's pretty sure nearly everyone thinks that she's just some assistant or something – but Regina just keeps telling her to smile and that it will be fine.

Finally, the time comes for the reveal. Sidney and Tina go out onto the stage they've set up and the production assistants tell them how the reveal is going to work, what order they should get in, and slowly begin to wrangle them into position.

Emma takes a deep breath and finds herself reaching for Regina's hand as her eyes zero in on the monitor to watch what is happening and scope out the competition.

**

"It is time! The big moment. We are ready to reveal for the very first time, the cast of Dancing with the Stars, Season Twenty-One! Are you guys ready?" The crowd in the studio audience begins to clap and cheer. "With us for the big reveal with have the host with the most, Sidney Glass and his lovely co-host, Tina Bell. Take it away, guys."

"Alright." Sidney smiles at the camera, completely at ease in this hosting gig. "Here we go. First up in the ballroom, we have a sexy singer who's ready to paint the dance floor red. She's performed all over the world with her band and now she's ready to be a bit of a Lone Wolf in the ballroom. Give it up for Ruby Lucas and her partner, Peter Wolfe!"

Applause breaks out as Ruby and Peter each come from separate sides of the backstage area to meet in the middle, hugging and laughing before heading to the chairs set up for the stars.

Tina takes over the next announcement. "This soccer star has become a world-wide sensation after helping the US Men's National Team on their way to gold at the Olympics. He can score on the field, but how will he score with our judges? Please make welcome Jim Frederick and his partner, Kathryn Midas."

Jim and Kathryn make a gorgeous pairing, Emma thinks, as they hug and Jim dips Kathryn back. Plus, the sports stars usually do well on the show.

"Alright. This woman, known for her delicious, home-style cooking, is someone that everyone wishes they could call Granny, but only one of our competitors actually can. With twelve best selling cookbooks and two cooking shows, we can't wait to see what dance moves she's got cooking. We've got her granddaughter also competing on the show this year, so it's sure to be the grandmother of all rivalries. Let's welcome, Eugenia 'Granny' Lucas and her partner, Billy Maus."

Emma can't help but smile as she watches Eugenia walk out onto the stage. The woman is a firecracker, that's for sure, but she's also got an aura that makes Emma feel like she really could call her Granny. While she's not sure what kind of dancing skills she might have, Emma finds herself hoping that Granny sticks around for a while.

"Next up, this man isn't afraid to take a walk on the wild side. In his wildlife show on the Discovery Channel, Wanderings with Walsh, he's encountered lions, tigers, and bears, oh my! But how will he deal with the fierce competition waiting inside the ballroom? It's a jungle in there! Here's Walsh Diggs and his partner, Zelena Mills."

Emma laughs when she takes in the animal print dress Zelena is wearing. It's very obviously intentional, as she and Walsh both make 'rawr' noises and paw at each other. "Your sister is a little crazy, huh?" Emma asks with a laugh.

Regina doesn't answer.

"At just seventeen, our youngest competitor this season has taken the tween scene by storm, starring in a hit Disney Channel show, as well as multiple movies. Will this princess waltz her way into the hearts of the fans? It's Disney star Ashley Boyd and her partner Sean Herman."

Ashley is ever tween boy's dream – beautiful and blonde in a wholesome way that makes them feel like they could bring her home to mom. Paired with the equally handsome - and wholesome looking – Sean, and Emma's pretty sure they'll get all the tween votes.

"Our next guest is a soap opera star known for making the ladies swoon, but will he be able to bring that swagger to the ballroom and sweep his partner – and America – off their feet? Please welcome the actor behind Aidan Brosnan, Robin Locksley and his partner, Marian Fitzwater."

Emma rolls her eyes as she watches Robin and his partner meet in the middle and him bow before her. It's totally cheesy and she can't believe anyone would fall for it. Though she really can't believe anyone finds him handsome either – gay or not, she's so not interested. Marian, however, is gorgeous, she can't help but think.

She's broken out of her reverie by a production assistant. "They'll do a small interview with each and then we'll be ready to introduce the rest of you after the commercial. So, if you could split up and head to the opposite sides of the room – pros to the right and celebrities to the left."

Emma feels her stomach twist as Regina's hand slips from hers. She suddenly isn't sure if she can really do this.

"I'll see you out there." Regina smiles and heads to the right side of the room.

"Hi!" Emma hears from beside her and looks over to see Mary Margaret Blanchard standing next to her. She's got a smile stretched from ear to ear and seems far too cheery for Emma's taste, but she offers a smile as well. After all, it won't do to get a reputation for being a bitch to the other contestants. "You must be Emma. It's such an honor to meet you. I mean, what you did for those orphans was just –"

Emma shrugs, cutting her off before she can continue. "No big deal. Really."

"Oh you're just so modest too!" Mary Margaret chirps. "Can you believe we're doing this?"

"Honestly, no." Emma laughs.

"Oh, but you're beautiful. I bet you're fantastic. I bet you make it to the finals."

"I don't know." Emma shrugs again. "I guess we'll see."

"Well, come on. Let's go get ready!"

"Yeah. Let's." Emma follows, her eyes searching out Regina again, just to feel safe.

On the monitor, Sidney is back to the introductions, which makes Emma stomach flip again. There's really no turning back now.

"Alright, let's get on with the introductions. This journalist has been all over the world covering the news. Her thirst for adventure and her fearlessness have made her a household name and one of the most trusted television journalists in the world. Will she be able to add Dancing with the Stars champion to her list of accomplishments? Welcome Milah Rubin with her partner, the bad-boy of the ballroom, Killian Jones."

Emma smiles when she sees Milah. The journalist had actually come to interview her when the whole 'Savior' thing went national – and then international. While Emma isn't a fan of the whole media circus that had grown from it, she truly respects Milah, and is happy to see a familiar face amongst the crowd of competitors.

"This next contestant is a Grammy winning rapper and DJ, who just wants to be The Knight of your Round Table. Will his gallant ways lead him to a mirror ball trophy? It's Sir Lancelot and his partner, Hua Mulan."

Emma grins as she watches Lancelot and Mulan meet. She was obsessed with The Knight of your Round Table when she was growing up, like everyone in the 90s was, she's sure. She doesn't know how Lancelot will do on the dance floor – he seems rather stoic, as does his partner, but she knows better than to underestimate anyone.

"This heiress to the Kingdom Hotel chain fortune, hasn't just rested on her laurels, but instead has made a name for herself as a model and star of her own reality show. She's used to getting what she wants, but will she be able to add the mirror ball to that list? Make welcome Aurora Stefan and her partner Philip Prinze."

Ashley Boyd may play a princess, but Aurora is the embodiment of one as she glides out onto the red carpet. Emma finds herself hoping that there is more to the girl than her pretty face, some substance under all that makeup and money. Philip treats her like a princess too, escorting her the whole way to her seat and helping her into it before finally taking his place behind her.

"This former child star is ready to shake off his bad boy image and shake his money maker in the ballroom. Can the man known for playing Baelfire bring fire to the dance floor? It's Neal Cassidy and his partner Tamara Wells."

Emma smirks. Lily had had a crush on Neal when she was younger and she and Emma had spent many a day sneaking into movie theatres to see his films. Emma could sort of see the appeal – especially when he was charged with auto theft. The bad boy image was sexy, but she knew even then that women turned her head far more. Then she looks in front of her and realizes that Mary Margaret is the only one left to introduce before it's her turn.

"We all know and love this next actress for her many roles as the best friend we wished we had. And from talking to her backstage, she's just a sweet in person. Will she be able to turn her sweetness into a sweet victory with her charming partner? It's Mary Margaret Blanchard and Dancing with the Stars favorite, David Nolan."

Emma moves forward, looking across the stage to find Regina. She wonders, briefly, how far she could get before a PA would tackle her if she took off running. She doesn't have long to contemplate it, let alone actually try, because she is being announced.

"Talk about ending with a bang. This last pairing is going to blow you away. After her heroic run, not once, not twice, but three times into a burning building to save children trapped inside went viral thanks a bystander's video, she became known across America and then the world as the Savior. Now she's ready to bring that bravery to the ballroom in a way that we've never seen before. Please welcome The Savior herself, Emma Swan and, in a return five years in the making, her partner, Regina Mills."

Emma moves forward, falling into a hug with Regina before pulling back, and turning to face the crowd.

There is complete silence from the crowd and Emma can feel it pressing down on her. Regina gives her hand a small squeeze, but she is ready to bolt from the stage until she hears the loud wolf whistle that Ruby lets out and the cheer that Granny Lucas, of all people, follows up with.

Emma breaks out into a laugh then as the audience finally begins to cheer, the shock worn off. She wants to run over and wrap Ruby into a hug, but instead moves with Regina to the last open chair, ready to face the questions she knows are coming.

Lara Spencer doesn't disappoint, moving straight to her. "We want to get to everyone here, but Emma, I've got to start with you."

"Of course." Emma laughs, doing her best to look relaxed and at ease.

"So, this is a pretty big deal for Dancing with the Stars – the first same sex coupling on the show. How do you feel about it?"

"Oh. Well, I mean, I feel great about it. Obviously, as I'm sure everyone knows, I am a lesbian so to have Dancing approach me and say that they'd let me dance with a female was a very big deal."

"So this was the show's idea then?"

Emma feels panic then, wondering how she's supposed to respond. It had been the show's idea, but maybe they don't want her to say that. Maybe she's just screwed everything up.

"Yes, it was the show's idea," Regina cuts in, "which I think is wonderful of them."

The crowd is quicker to cheer now, Emma notices.

"So was it this challenge that brought you back to the show, Regina? We haven't seen you for five years, not since –"

Regina cuts her off before she can mention Daniel. "I had been wanting to come back to the show and when they approached me about the possibility of dancing with a woman, I was surprised, but very excited about the opportunity. And that's what it is. An opportunity, not a challenge."

Emma feels a real smile then, as Regina carefully takes the correspondent to task.

"Yes. Of course. Well, we look forward to seeing what you can do on the dance floor."

"Thank you." Emma offers, finally feeling a little bit of relief as Lara moves on to question Mary Margaret.

She zones out for the rest of the interview, only coming back as she hears Lara wrapping things up.

"Don't miss the premiere of Dancing with the Stars, Monday, September 14th at 8 PM. And congratulations to the new cast. Wishing you all the best of luck!"


	5. Week 1

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song they dance to in this chapter is These Arms of Mine by Otis Redding and their dance is based on [Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough's Viennese Waltz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oF_K9jy0RYY) to that same song.

**

**WEEK 1**

******

**These arms of mine**  
**They are lonely**  
**Lonely and feeling blue**

**

"So," Emma says as she enters the studio the next morning, "do we have a song?"

"We do." Regina holds up a blank white envelope. "Production delivered it a few minutes ago. I was waiting for you."

Emma drops her things next to Regina and heads over to where Regina is already sitting near the CD player. Leroy follows her with the camera.

"Well, let's open it up and check it out!" Emma is sort of excited in spite of herself.

Regina moves as though to open the envelope, but Emma grabs her hand. "Oh, wait! Let's tweet this. Hold up the envelope and get in here." She holds the phone out to take a selfie.

Although she's never really been that into social media – and is still very leery after all the things she's seen tweeted at her since the reveal yesterday – Lily has been drilling the importance of it into her head. Building the fanbase is crucial, and if them posting pictures will help, Emma's going to try it. She wants to make it past the first week, after all, if just to prove all the haters wrong.

Regina rolls her eyes, but smiles for the picture regardless.

Emma pulls up a new draft and quickly types "About to find out our song for our Viennese waltz! #TeamSwanQueen can't wait to dance for you!" and attaches the picture. She's been given the all clear to release what dance they are doing, but that's it. Everything else has to be kept under wraps.

"Alright, let's do this." She nods when the tweet is sent off into cyberspace.

Regina opens the envelope and looks at the CD. There's a look that flits across her face when she first sees the song title. Emma can't place it, but it almost looks like pain.

"What is it?" She leans forward, trying to catch a glimpse of it.

"These Arms of Mine." Regina says and her voice is monotone. Emma's brow furrows at that reaction.

"Like, from LOST?"

"What?"

"Otis Redding, right? It played on an episode of LOST."

"Well, then, yes. Like from Lost." Her voice is still monotone and Emma can't help the feeling that there is something very wrong.

**

"What is your damn problem?" Emma asks after Regina snaps at her for the fifth time in as many minutes.

"Excuse me?"

"What is your damn problem?" Emma repeats, not willing to back down. "You've been a total bitch to me all morning and I want to know why."

In the back of her mind, she knows that all of this is being filmed and could potentially end up on the show, but honestly at this point, she doesn't care. Ever since Regina opened the CD with their song on it, she's been like a different person and Emma's not liking it, at all. If this is the way it's going to be, then Emma's positive she'll be voted off first because she can't deal with this.

"My problem is that you cannot seem to put one foot in front of the other today and you certainly aren't listening to anything I'm telling you! This dance has to be perfect and at this point, I don't think I can teach you anything because you aren't even listening to me!"

"Perfect?" Emma huffs. "It's my first freakin' dance. No one has ever had a perfect first dance. There's such a thing as an attainable goal and perfection is not it with me."

"No, it's certainly not! Because you are worthless." Regina spits.

Emma bristles at that. She's heard those words too many times from too many people and she certainly isn't going to take it right now, not from Regina or the producers or the viewers or anyone else.

"You know what, fuck you." She shouts as she storms out of the room, slamming the door behind her for good measure.

The cameras are still rolling, catching it all.

She's so going home first.

**

When she comes back into the room, Regina is gone and Leroy, Walter, and Tom are

just sitting there. Emma's amazed that they haven't followed them to film. She knows that's their usual MO.

"You okay, sister?" Leroy asks her and he actually sounds kind of concerned. She looks into the camera and forces a smile.

"Of course. Why wouldn't I be?"

"I'm not filming right now."

Emma's shoulders relax. "Isn't that, like, against your contract or something?"

Leroy snorts. "You let me worry about that."

Emma looks around for any signs of Regina, but doesn't find any. She almost doesn't want to ask, but knows that she needs to. "Where's Regina?"

"She's taking a little time to regroup," is the answer she gets.

Emma scrubs her hands over her face. "Look, you've known her for a while, right? What's going on with her?"

Leroy looks at her for a long time before he finally responds. "Your song? It was the song she and Daniel danced to at their wedding."

"Oh." Emma whispers. "Shit."

"Yeah." Leroy nods. "Exactly."

**

She finds Regina on the roof, her hands wrapped around the railing, looking out over the parking lot. It's not a pretty view – certainly not like the one off Regina's deck – but then, Emma's pretty sure that Regina isn't even seeing any of it.

"Hey." She says softly, rocking back on her heels.

"Hey." Regina responds, surprised to see her when she turns.

There's silence for a while and then they both start to speak at the same time. "I'm sorry."

Regina raises an eyebrow. " _You're_ sorry?"

"Well, yeah." Emma shrugs. "I mean, first of all, it's a really shitty thing they did, giving you – us – that song."

She thinks that Regina will defend the producers, saying that they couldn't have known or some other bullshit, but instead she just offers up her own shrug before looking back out over the parking lot. "They want to get some good material for the package."

"So they play with your emotions to do it?" Emma frowns. "That's bullshit and you shouldn't have to deal with it. You should go to the producers and tell them to shove it. Or, no, you know what, I will. I'll tell them that I refuse to dance to this song. They want me on this show and now that they've announced me, they can't very well get rid of me without it causing a scandal… or at least making some waves. So I'll just go and tell them that I refuse to dance to this song and –"

Regina laughs then. It's not a pleasant sound like the laughter Emma is used to from her. "There you go again, playing The Savior."

Emma frowns. Regina knows how she feels about that stupid nickname and now she's throwing it back into her face when Emma is only trying to help. "Decent human being, remember?"

Regina looks at her then as though finally seeing her and offers her a more genuine smile. "Yes. I do. But you don't have to do that. I will manage. I just… needed some time to process."

Emma feels like she should call Regina out on that, because there's no way that she's processed the fact that she's dancing with Emma to the song that she danced to with her dead husband, but she doesn't.

"Now, I think you said first of all. Does that mean there's a second part to this apology?"

Emma laughs. "I guess it does. I'm sorry for what I said to you before I stormed off. I shouldn't have said that, no matter how mad I was at you. But you've gotta understand…" Emma takes a deep breath, thinking about what Henry said about having to trust your partner. "I've been told that I was worthless my entire life. And it really hurts. Even now, when I feel like I know better. So to hear it from you…"

"That was – I was upset but I had no right to act the way I did with you and I certainly had no right to say that to you." Regina says, reaching out and putting her hand over Emma's. "Emma, I'm sorry. Snapping at you – I shouldn't have done that. Will you accept my apology?"

"Okay." Emma nods. "But from now on, if something is bothering you, will you just tell me about it?"

"I'll try." Regina tells her. "I'm not always good at talking about things like that. I don't want to appear…"

"Weak?" Emma offers. "I understand. But if dance is all about trust, then communication is important, right? I mean, I'm the one who is really vulnerable in this situation, depending on you to teach me everything. So if I can trust you not to use my weakness against me, then you need to trust me in the same way."

"Well," Regina exhales, "look at you, with the insight into dance."

Emma laughs. "So, are we okay?"

"Yes." Regina nods. "We are."

"Good." Emma smiles at her. "And Regina? I promise you that I am going to do my best to make this dance the best that I possibly can for you… and for him."

Regina is quiet for a long time then and Emma thinks she can see a sheen over her eyes before she finally breathes, "Thank you, Emma," and moves away from the railing. "Now let's go practice. We've got a lot of work to do."

**

The rest of the practice had gone much smoother, although there had been a few bumps where Regina had seemed to be overcome with emotion while trying to choreograph the dance. In those times, Emma had given her space, purposely taking food or water breaks to give her time to process. There were still some moments where Regina had snapped, but Emma had coped with them much easier.

Now, Emma finds herself back on Regina's deck with a glass of apple cider, enjoying the view. "Will you tell me about him?" She asks and then clarifies, unnecessarily. "Daniel."

Regina lets out a rush of air and Emma begins to backtrack. "I mean, if it's too personal or painful or –"

"We met on the junior circuit. He was so sweet. It was easy to fall in love with him. My mother didn't approve. She thought he was taking away from my concentration, ruining all my hard work. I didn't care though." She smiles, thinking of her husband.

"When he proposed, it was like that was what I'd been waiting on my whole life. We got married when I was nineteen. My mother refused to come to the wedding. That was around the time that she started putting all her attention on Zelena, sure that I was ruining my life and my dancing career. But with Daniel, I just got better. I'd found my perfect partner. We won championships together, something I'd never been able to do individually.

Then, when I was twenty-three, I found out I was pregnant with Henry. Again, mother was sure that was the end of my career, but honestly, I didn't care. I loved dance, I still do. But being a mother, being Daniel's wife, that was all that I really wanted."

"You went back to dancing, though, after Henry." Emma says, when Regina hasn't picked the story back up.

"Yes. It couldn't have been more than a month after he was born that Dancing approached both Daniel and me to be on the show. I turned them down at first. I wanted to be totally there for Henry. But they were persistent and convinced me. Daniel and I made it work. It was perfect, really. I was doing everything I loved. I had the perfect life. And then, just like that, Daniel was gone."

Regina stops talking then and Emma doesn't push her.

"I'm not gonna let you down, Regina." Emma promises. "I'm gonna give this everything I have."

Regina looks at her and smiles. "I believe you."

**

"We're thinking of having you in a white dress, Emma, and Regina in a tuxedo." Johanna, the lead costumer says when they meet with her the next morning.

"No." Emma is vehement. "No way in hell. Absolutely not."

Johanna blinks.

"Emma," Regina lays a calming hand on her arm, "it's alright."

"No, it isn't." Emma insists.

"I – I'm sorry if I've offended you, Miss Swan." Johanna says then and Emma feels like crap. God, this woman probably thinks she's a bitch.

"I'm sorry, Johanna. I just – I'm not a fan of the whole Savior thing and the white dresses are just… could we make it a different color, instead?" Emma says nothing about the wedding connotation, about how she's really against the whole thing for Regina's sake.

"Oh! Of course. What about gray? We've got a lovely gray material that I think will look wonderful on you."

"Yeah." Emma nods, smiling. "That sounds great. And as for the tuxedo –"

"Oh, Regina will look so lovely in it."

"I have no doubts about that, Johanna. But I just think, I mean, obviously we're both women and know that for dance purposes us both having dresses this time will be difficult, but putting her in a tux, I just feel like – can we maybe just do pants and a shirt?"

Johanna processes what it is that Emma is trying to say and seems to understand then. "Oh. Yes. Yes, of course."

"Great." Emma smiles. "Then we'll leave you to it, yeah?"

"Yes, yes. I'll let you get back to your practicing."

"Thanks, Johanna."

"Yes, Johanna, thank you." Regina smiles and then leads Emma back out the door, turning on her as soon as they've cleared the doorway.

"You did not need to do that."

Emma just shrugs. "Well, I did. Now let's go. We've got our first live stream today and I want to get a little bit of practice in beforehand so that I don't look like a total idiot."

Regina just laughs.

**

Sarah is waiting in their rehearsal space for them when they get back.

"Costuming went well?" She asks.

Emma wonders if Johanna has called and said what a pain she is, but she just smiles. "Yeah, I think they're going to be great."

"Wonderful. Now, as you know, your all access live feed starts in about forty five minutes. Leroy, Tom, and Walter know what to do to get you on. Just remember, no music, no giving away songs, none of that. Most of the other couples have been practicing for a while and then using time at the end to answer questions from Twitter. It helps to keep things integrated with social media."

Emma winces just a bit at that. "Great."

"Well, you've been doing a great job with the integration so far – loving the pictures on Twitter and Instagram – so I'll leave you to it."

"Thank you, Sarah." Regina smiles for the both of them. Emma just can't quite manage it.

**

"You're on in one minute." Leroy tells them later, when they've spent enough time going through the choreography with the music that Emma feels like she's only going to make a minor fool of herself, instead of major one.

"Ready?" Regina asks, offering her a smile.

"Of course." She replies, although it isn't confident at all.

"In five, four, three, two, one…" Leroy points at them and Emma offers a wave at the camera. "Hey everyone! Welcome to Team Swan Queen's first live all access rehearsal."

Regina waves as well. "We’ve already been working hard on the dance - Emma’s been doing a fantastic job. So today we’re going to work through a few things, give you some inside insight into our process and then, at the end we’re going to take some time to answer some questions from you. So, if you’d like, go ahead and tag your questions with Team Swan Queen Live Stream so we can find them. Now." Regina turns and she’s suddenly back to being all business. "I think we need to work on the first pass, especially with our arms."

Emma frowns, remembering how tangled up she always seems to get. "Great."

Leroy chuckles behind the camera.

"So," Regina is speaking to the camera as Emma gets positioned in front of her, "this is basically the first part of our dance, which is some arm work that will lead to us getting into frame and dancing. In the Viennese Waltz, your arms and your fluidity are very important."

"Which is an issue for me." Emma smirks at the camera.

"Stand up straight." Regina reminds, putting her hand on Emma’s back to help her into the position. "Good. Now, here we go."

Regina puts her arms on Emma’s shoulders and then begins to move them downwards. Emma struggles not to squirm or laugh at the feeling, but does her best to remain serious. "And arms, up, up." Regina says as she moves her arms up, waiting for Emma to mimic them.

"Okay, but we need to have them come up with purpose, while still being fluid, and at the same time as my arms come up. It’s like I’m a puppeteer and you’re my puppet."

Emma grins. "Already she’s pulling my strings." She jokes, then straightens back up. "So what do I do with my hands then? Should I have my fingers pointed out or what?"

"You want them to hang just as they would if you were relaxed. Then when you go above your head, you begin to use them, keeping them out but not rigid."

"Okay." Emma nods. They go through the beginning again, Emma keeping her eyes on them in the mirror. It looks much better this time.

"Good, let's keep going."

Emma continues on, letting her hands come down and cross over to then go above her head while Regina's hands stay at her waist.

"Yes. Remember though, to get that picture, we need you to sink down a little here, with your left leg going out straight and your right leg bending. Let's go again."

This time, Emma remembers to sink down, but her head slams into Regina's. They break apart, chuckling a little. "Sorry."

"Keep your head to the side. You can turn and look at me a little."

"Okay."

They go again and make it through without any bumps, progressing farther until it comes to the crossing of the arms which leads to a spin.

"I always get turned around here." Emma says. "Can we just slow it down?"

Regina walks her through it slowly and it begins to click. "Good, and now when I spin you out, you want this arm to naturally go from up here at your shoulders down and to end up falling onto your hip. So let's try that."

They continue on like this for the duration of the live stream, working through just the first few moments of the dance, making sure that the rhythm is there and then that the lines and pictures, as Regina calls them, are looking clean and pretty. It's hard for Emma to focus on the steps and her posture and positioning, but after going through it so many times, she feels like she's improving.

She certainly isn't tangling up with Regina on the part where they turn each other anymore, so that's a plus.

"You've got about fifteen minutes left." Leroy says, after they've just finished high fiving each other after a successful run through of what they've worked on so far. "You wanna go to Twitter now?"

Emma really, really doesn't, but she just smiles and nods as they head over to where they've stashed their phones.

"Yeah, let's see what burning questions you have." She opens up her Twitter feed and clicks on her notifications. The first tweet she sees says '@EmmaSwan I've got a question – why are you calling yourselves #TeamSwanQueen when you should be calling yourselves #TeamDyke?' She freezes.

Regina is looking over her shoulder and sees it too. She feels the imperceptible squeeze on her hands on her shoulders. She tries to scroll on, but she just can't make herself. Regina takes the phone from her and begins to scroll. Emma's mentions are full of awful comments like that, which make Regina growl in her throat and begin hitting the block button. "What's it like working with Regina?" Regina asks as though she's reading it from the phone, but she hasn't seen that question on any tweets yet.

Emma shakes herself and then looks at the camera. "Oh. It's great. I mean, she's definitely pushing me, making me work hard. But I think we get along well and I'm happy to be working with her."

"Oh, here's good one." Regina says and this time, she actually has found a decent question, "What kind of dancing experience do you have, Emma?"

"Umm… none? I mean, I've danced around in my bedroom and at a club in a crowd or something. But I've never taken lessons or done this kind of dancing before – as you could probably tell from our rehearsal and how much we got done."

"What's your song this week?" Emma reads that one, happy to have found another safe question. "We can't tell you. But it's a great song and," she looks at Regina for permission, "it's very special to Regina."

"Why don't you have a Team Swan Queen shirt on?" Regina reads and then answers. "Because we don’t have any. I guess we should look into that huh?"

"Yeah. Maybe you guys can help us out. Send us ideas for shirts." Emma grins. "We need to get our Team Swan Queen swag on."

It's easier after that, with Regina manning the phone and calling out the questions and before she knows it, the time is up and Leroy is telling them they've got the all clear.

"Well," Regina says, putting the phone down, "that wasn't awful."

"My sentiments exactly." Emma grins, bumping their shoulders together.

"But now we've got to get back to work. Real work."

Emma groans.

**

The music fades out and Emma feels her stomach begin to churn as she holds tightly to Regina in their final embrace of the dance. Slowly, they stand up and look at the judge who has been watching them with a sharp eye. Emma swallows hard, trying to keep her lunch down.

"Well, technically it had all the elements of a Viennese Waltz and it was danced well, but Emma, I need to see more emotion from you. You need to show me what you're going through with this dance. Also, your motions should be more fluid and you've got to work on your arms and hands because when you're out of hold, they're ruining your pictures. Overall, I'd give it a six."

"A six!" Emma wants to burst into tears.

"Well," Regina sighs, "thank you, Henry, for your critiques. Emma, back to practicing."

"Was I seriously that bad?" Emma asks as Henry grins at her.

"Nah, not really. Just want to prepare you for Gold. But you do need to show some more emotion and work on your arms a bit more. It's getting there, though." Henry assures. "Hey, Mom, can I get some judges paddles?"

"We'll see. Right now, Emma and I need to work on her arms." Regina shoos Henry out of the room.

"Although he does have a point about some things we needs to work on, you know that he was just teasing, right? You're not going to get a six, Emma."

Emma lets out a breath, pushing her hair back off her face. "He might not be too far off, actually. What am I doing, Regina? I'm awful at this. And no one wants me on this show so maybe I should just –"

"Stop it right now." Regina says, her tone brooking no argument. "First of all, you're wrong about no one wanting you on the show. Plenty of people, including me, want you to be on the show. And yes, you're struggling right now, but so are all the other celebrities. You're not supposed to be good yet. You need to get the basics down. Aren't you the one that told me that expecting perfection on your first dance was ludicrous?"

"Yeah."

"Yeah. So. Stop pouting and let's get on with it."

"Okay. But, uh, before we do, I kinda have something to ask you." Emma feels like now is as good a time as any.

"Alright."

"Well, they gave me my tickets for the show – you know, for inviting people to come and everything. And we all apparently get eight tickets. I don't know if the pros get any, but the stars get eight and Lily will obviously be using one of my tickets but I was thinking, I don't know if you got tickets or not but –"

"Emma." Regina interrupts with a smile on her face. "Breathe for a second and then ask me what you want to know."

"Could I give Henry one of my tickets to the show? I mean, I don't know if you want him there or not, but if you didn't mind and he didn't mind and you didn't already have a ticket for him –"

"Emma," Regina cuts her off again, "I think Henry would love that."

Emma feels relief wash over her. The thought of only have one person in the audience was bad enough but she had feared what Regina would say about Henry. "Awesome. Okay. Awesome." Emma smiles.

"Yes, well, let's get your arms to Awesome. Okay. Awesome. shall we?"

**

"Oh Emma, you look beautiful!" Mary Margaret exclaims when she sees her for the first time at dress rehearsal.

Emma feels her cheeks growing hot as she tugs at her dress. It's gorgeous and she really does feel rather pretty, but she doesn't want to be fussed over. She just wants to get through her dance without tripping and falling or ripping her dress.

"You do too." She offers, even as her eyes are scanning the room for Regina. She feels herself relax when she catches sight of her. And then she feels an entirely different anxiety creep up when she actually gets a good look at her. Johanna has given her black pants that fit perfectly and make her ass look amazing, if you ask Emma. Her crisp white shirt is also perfectly fitted and the black tie that she has on makes Emma want to drool.

"Wow." She breathes, moving away from Mary Margaret who is still chatting, and stopping in front of Regina. "You look amazing."

Regina just rolls her eyes. "I look like every other male dancer who has ever been on the show."

"Uh, trust me, Regina," Emma says, leaning in close and allowing her eyes to fall onto the swell of Regina's breasts before looking back up at her, "you don't."

"Keep your eyes up and your head in the game, Swan." Regina reminds, gently chastising. "We don't want any mistakes."

Emma blushes and looks down, recalling the disaster that was camera blocking the night before. She'd sort of cracked under pressure and nearly forgotten the entire dance. She feels like she's okay now, but who know what will happen when it's their turn to dance – or when there's a live audience and the judges in front of her tonight. She only hopes that she can hold up and do this incredible dance that Regina has created justice.

**

They're dancing last.

It isn't a surprise, really. It will keep those who are waiting to see what happens with two women dancing together hanging on until the very last second and it will keep those who want nothing to do with it around until close to it.

In some ways, Emma's glad they're last. She certainly wouldn't want to be first. But mostly, she's freaking out because being last means nearly two hours of waiting time for her to panic about everything.

"Five minutes everyone!"

"There you go." The makeup artist finishes with a smile. "You look beautiful."

  
"Thank you." Emma says sincerely, but she doesn't look in the mirror. She doesn't really want to see. Instead she heads towards her place for the beginning of the show.

It seems like forever ago that she walked into her apartment in Boston to have Lily tell her Dancing wanted her. It also seems like only a second ago.

**

"Live from Hollywood, it's the Season 21 premiere of Dancing with the Stars."

The applause is nearly deafening. If it hadn't been for the blare of the fire sirens in her ear the night she became the Savior, Emma would say she's never heard anything so loud before.

The open sequence has just played and yes, it was pretty awesome to see her and Regina up there on the big screen where they showed it for the audience, but now the show is actually starting. Emma straightens up her back and gets ready for her introduction.

"Welcome to the new season of Dancing with the Stars. I'm Sidney Glass."

"And I'm Tina Bell. It's the premiere event you've all been waiting for."

"So, let's wait no more. For the first time this season, let's bring out our stars!"

The music swells and the applause grows even louder. Emma reaches down and grabs Regina's hand. She knows that Sidney and Tina are calling out the names of the pairings, she can see as they take turns walking down their sides of the large staircase, but Emma can't hear anything.

"Hey," Regina says, squeezing her hand when only Granny and Billy are left between them and the ballroom, "you're okay. We're okay."

Emma takes a deep breath and nods, stepping out onto the staircase with a smile on her face and her hand tightly holding Regina's.

**

The show flies by. Emma didn't think it would, but it really does. She stays up in the skybox, watching all the others dance and mugging for the camera when needed. She's truly amazed and impressed by everyone's dances. Some – Mary Margaret and Fred – are faring better than others – Aurora and Sir Lancelot – but everyone is doing things she would never believe them capable of.

Ruby's Cha-Cha to Hungry Like The Wolf garners her 28 points from the judges and is Emma's favorite dance to that point, even though it isn't the highest scoring.

Then Granny and Billy take to the dance floor. They're dancing second to last, right before Emma and Regina. Granny has been staying close to Emma all night, which has kept her out of her head and has made her laugh, because the wry commentary on everything that Granny casually mumbles is hilarious. Emma knows she needs to be getting ready, but there's a commercial break between their dances and Emma wants to witness what is about to happen.

From the second the opening notes to Hot In Herre start, the audience goes crazy, Emma and the other stars screaming right along with them from the skybox. The dance is fantastic, although if Henry were scoring it, Emma is sure that he would be all over it for technical issues, which is true of the real judges as well. Her scores aren't the greatest – 25 points altogether – but the whole crowd is on their feet and Emma is sure that she will be watching the performance over and over again on her DVR.

But now all the fun and games are over and it's time for Emma to dance. She and Regina are standing together on the dance floor, already in position for the start of their dance. "Don't watch the package." Regina says into her ear and Emma turns to look at her with a frown.

"What?"

"Don't watch the package when they show it. Don't worry about what they put up there. Just stay here in the moment with me, ready to dance."

Emma nods. "I'm going to give it my all. I'm going to make you both proud," she promises.

Regina smiles as the audience cheers, signaling the return from commercial.

Sidney introduces them with a smile. "We are back for the final, and most talked about, dance of our Season 21 premiere. It's also the dance that everyone has been buzzing about. It's Emma Swan and her partner Regina Mills."

And even though Regina told her not to watch it, Emma can't help but turn to look at the screen and watch the package.

It opens with the footage of her they used in the credits and then cuts to the interview she'd shot with Leroy. "I'm Emma Swan, but most of you probably know me as the Savior who ran into a burning group home to save foster kids who were trapped inside. I'm also a lesbian and will be in the first same sex pairing here on Dancing with the Stars. I'm excited for the opportunity to be here, but also nervous because I am so not coordinated."

It cuts to Regina then, introducing herself. "I'm Regina Mills and I'm back here on Dancing with the Stars for the first time in five years. It's been a long time, but I'm ready to be back and to go to work and help Emma learn to dance."

They show a little of their first meeting, which does make Emma look like a total dork and then various shots of their rehearsals over the week – most of them involving Emma tripping and falling or otherwise messing up the dance steps.

"Like I said," Emma on the screen says, "I'm really not coordinated."

Then the music changes and Emma sees the shot of them opening the envelope to find their song. She tenses as she waits for the argument to come, but it doesn't. Instead it cuts to Regina, explaining that the song was the same one she had danced to at her wedding and that it is very close to her heart. There are tears in her eyes and Emma hates the production team for playing with Regina's emotions this way. The clip ends with Emma's words from her last on the fly interview with Leroy. "I just really want this dance to be great for Regina and for Daniel."

The screen flickers off and everything goes dark for a second until a blue spotlight shines on them. Regina's forehead presses against Emma's neck for that second before she straightens up, her fingers toying with the thin straps on Emma's gown. It's not a move they've rehearsed and it sends shivers up and down Emma's spine.

Then the music starts and everything just fades away – everything but Regina and the dance. In the back of her mind, she's aware of the applause of the audience, but it's so distant and removed from this moment that she's suddenly having with Regina.

Emma has danced this dance what feels like a million times over the course of their two weeks of training. But it has never before been like this.

They're _dancing_.

Emma smiles widely as they make it through the arm pass with no mistakes. She falls into step with Regina easily as they begin to glide across the floor in hold. Her dress flows around them and she thinks about lines and pictures and Regina. Regina, pulling her close and holding her, then spinning her away, but always, always being connected with her.

"I need your arms, loving arms to hold me tight," Otis sings as the song comes to a finish and Regina dips her back, holding her tight as she carefully lowers her towards the ground.

The audience erupts and Emma comes back into the moment then, feeling Regina's forehead pressing against her neck and shoulder.

Regina pulls them up then, easily turning them so that they're standing upright. Emma smiles as she looks into brown eyes that are shining and Regina leans forward, her lips pressing against Emma's forehead for just a second before she hugs her tightly.

Emma feels the rush of the dance and the moment they've just had flying through her veins and as she hugs back tightly, she whispers into Regina's ear, "I want to win." Regina is smiling when she pulls back.

"Emma and Regina." Sidney says over the shouts of the crowd and they begin moving towards him and the judges' table. Emma's arm is around Regina's waist and she doesn’t plan on moving it anytime soon. "Come on over, you guys. What an elegant finish to an exciting night. Let's find out what the judges thought. Jefferson Tarrant."

Jefferson is known for being the more flamboyant of the judges – he's openly gay as well – and so Emma can't help but laugh when he jumps up out of his seat.

"You know, I was so excited when I found out that you were going to be on the show, but I also worried about how this partnership was going to work out. Now though, I see I had nothing to worry about. That was beautiful! Your lines were flawless. The best arms I've seen tonight! A beautifully danced and beautifully acted waltz. Well done." Emma ducks her head, feeling her face heat at the praise.

"Alright, let's go to Astrid Faye."

"I love my job so much, because I get to see things like this happen." Astrid says, her voice revealing the tears she's struggling to control. "In the package we saw how important this dance was to you Regina and to see what you have created with Emma – it's just beautiful. So beautiful. Something very profound just happened right now. You should both be very proud and I know that Daniel is looking down on you both tonight and smiling."

Emma looks at Regina then, worried about her reaction, but she's still smiling and nodding, even as tears are slipping down her cheeks silently.

"Our head judge, Robert Gold."

"Well, I think that, despite the reservations we saw in the package, this was a dance that really suited you, dearie. You had those lovely lines and flow and it's obvious that you've worked hard on this dance. I think it was great, but I'm waiting for next week to see how you continue to work and dance together."

Emma nods at that, already determined to make next week even better.

"And last but not least, Lacey French."

Lacey is also worked up, waving her arms as she speaks. "First of all, I just have chills from watching you two together like this. Oh my gosh. It's just pure beauty really. For me, you guys are like, definitely the ones to watch. Super intense."

"Alright," Sidney smiles, "You're getting raves from the judges. But I've got to ask, you went last tonight. Was that unnerving or inspiring, watching everyone else go first?"

"Both." Emma laughs. "I mean, it was completely unnerving to be last, but also, once I started to watch everyone – they were all amazing and so I'm just very inspired by them. Everyone has worked hard for this. And, I mean, Granny with Hot In Herre? Incredible."

"Alright, well, let's take a look at your scores, shall we?"

"The judges have their scores. Astrid Faye."

"8." Emma jumps in excitement as the audience cheers.

"Robert Gold."

"8."

Emma can't believe it. An 8 from Gold!

"Lacey French."

"8."

"Jefferson Tarrant."

"8."

Emma flings her arms around Regina, hugging her tightly as the cheers continue. She thinks she can hear Lily and Henry over the crowd, but can't be sure. All she's sure about right now is that this feeling flowing through her is amazing.

"That's a 32 out of 40 for Emma and Regina." Sidney says, starting in on his end of show spiel.

"All of our couples want your votes tonight. One of them sadly will be going home next week. Don't forget that you can call until one hour after the show and vote online on abc.com and Facebook until 8 PM Eastern, 5 PM Pacific tomorrow evening. The couple with the lowest combined total of viewer votes and judges' scores will be eliminated next week. Topping the leader board are Emma and Regina, at the bottom are Sir Lancelot and Mulan. But no matter where our stars stand, they want your vote."

Tina steps in then to continue as the cameras pan over all the couples, dancing and visiting together. "We'll be back with much more competition next week on My Jam Monday. Tweet the songs that make you want to dance using the hashtag My Jam Monday. And join us back in the ballroom at 8, 7 Central."

"This has been Sidney Glass and Tina Bell with Dancing with the Stars. See you next week!"

**

Everything is a blur once the cameras stop rolling. There's a sudden crush of people as everyone moves in from the audience and behind the scenes. Producers are trying to rush them off the dance floor and back to dressing rooms to get their costumes off while their friends and family are all trying to get to them to congratulate them.

There's a lot of hugging.

It's not that Emma doesn't like hugging or doesn't appreciate the gesture – it's just that she's unused to those types of displays of affection. Instead of feeling safe and comforted, she feels completely out of her element – stiff and uncomfortable. When someone is denied affection for so long, it's a hard thing to get used to.

  
Emma's gotten better in the years she's been free from the system – she's completely at ease with Lily and feels comfortable around Regina even after such a short period. And when Henry rushes up and tosses his arms around her, babbling about how great she was, she welcomes the embrace. But it seems like every person she tries to pass on her way to backstage is pulling her in for a hug and she's just not prepared for that.

Making it to the dressing room is a blessing, although she's being prodded along every step of the way. There are interviews to do and an after party to get to and the costumes need to be taken and her makeup needs to be taken off and reapplied and Emma just moves on autopilot, letting everyone else tell her what to do.

Once they hit 'interview row' as she's decided to call it, after the show, she smiles and gives rote answers to all the interviews who ask her the same questions, holding on to Regina and deferring to her as much as possible.

_I love working with Regina. She's amazing._

 

_It really is a lot harder than it looks, but I'm having a fabulous time._

 

_I'm not trying to be a poster child or the face of a movement, but I am very proud to be part of a same-sex coupling and I'm so pleased the show and network are supporting the community in this way._

 

_I just wanted to make Regina proud tonight, so as long as she's happy, I'm happy. I'm not worried about the scores right now, although it's great to be at the top of the leaderboard._

When they finally make it into the car that's waiting for them, Emma feels like she can finally breathe. Henry is rambling away to Regina, who is giving him her undivided attention, and Lily is busy looking at her phone, so Emma decides to do the same, pulling up Twitter and clicking on her notifications.

Of course, the first few tweets she sees are all saying that she only got the scores she did because of being gay and how she's actually a horrible dancer, so she quickly shuts the phone off and closes her eyes until they arrive at the trendy little Hollywood restaurant that the studio has booked for them.

There are backdrops and photographers waiting, so she pastes her smile back on, praying to get through the line quickly.

**

A drink is placed down in front of her just as she's finishing the last of her second one – the first one was gone in the time it took to throw it back, not exactly couth but exactly what she'd needed to calm her nerves after everything the last few hours had thrown at her.

She looks up, expecting to find Lily, but instead locks eyes with Ruby Lucas, rocking a tight little red dress that perfectly matches the red streaks in her hair.

"You looked like you could use another one."

"Thanks." She offers a smile and finds that it's fairly genuine. She's been sticking by herself mostly since Regina left early to get Henry home to bed and Lily started making her way around the room 'networking'. Emma thinks she should've just left when Regina did, but she'd stuck around at Lily's insistence.

Ruby slides into the booth next to her, coming close enough that she can feel the heat of her skin but not close enough that they're actually touching. "So, I've just gotta say – girl, you were amazing tonight."

Emma's eyes find her phone without meaning to and she shrugs. "Nah, I –"

Ruby grabs the phone, glancing at the tweet that Emma has brought up and been torturing herself with for the past two hours. "Seriously?" Ruby raises her eyebrows. "Ignore the haters. Look at yourself."

She points to one of the many televisions scattered around the room where they're showing the west coast feed of the show. She and Regina are currently dancing on the screen and she has to admit, they look damn good together.

"People can be assholes. In your case, you're dealing with homophobes, who are the worst kind of assholes. But you can't let them overshadow what you're doing. And you sure as hell can't believe a word they say."

Emma laughs then, taking a drink. "Thanks, Ruby. And you know, I loved your dance tonight."

Ruby smiles then, teeth gleaming. She's insanely pretty.

"So," Ruby wiggles her eyebrows, glancing over to where David and Mary Margaret have been cuddled up in a booth all night, "first showmance of the season, you think?"

Emma shrugs. "They certainly look cozy."

"So sweet I could vomit." Ruby laughs. "I'd say I bet they'll be the first to sleep together this year but…" She trails off into a laugh that's sinful.

"No." Emma asks, her mouth coming open a bit at the gossip she's getting and the fact that she's somehow kind of made a friend to gossip with. "You and Peter?"

Red lips slide into a smirk. "I couldn't resist."

"Oh my god!" Emma laughs.

Music starts to fill the room as the show has finished airing on the televisions. They're playing Hungry Like The Wolf and Ruby lets out a noise that Emma would swear is a howl.

"C'mon, Swan. Let's dance!"

She lets Ruby grab her hand and drag her to the dance floor.


	6. Week 2

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song they dance to in this chapter is I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston. Their dance is based off of [Danica McKeller and Valentin Chmerkovskiy's Cha Cha](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=d8aVpsBbYHA) to the same song.

**

**WEEK 2**

**

**Oh, I wanna dance with somebody**  
**I wanna feel the heat with somebody**  
**Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody**  
**With somebody who loves me**

******

"Emma, wake up!"

Emma moans and tries to bury her head further into the pillow. She's completely exhausted and not ready to face the world yet. While she had ended up having a good time at the after party, dancing and getting to know her fellow cast members, she is also exhausted and now completely regretting staying at the party for so long.

"Emma!" Lily grasps her shoulder and begins to shake it. "You have to wake up."

She manages a garbled "no".

"Okay, first of all, you have to be to Regina's in like, half an hour." Lily says as she grabs the blanket and tugs it off of Emma. "And second, you've gotta wake up and see this."

"Wha?" She asks as she blinks, trying to focus.

"Look." Lily shoves her cell phone towards Emma's face, Twitter already open on the screen and Emma just groans and shoves the phone right back.

"Lily, I really don't need to read any more tweets about how the judges went easy on me because I'm a lesbian and they need me to stick around for the ratings. Or about how crappy of a dancer I actually am." Emma tries to steal the blanket back, but Lily doesn't let her.

"Emma, look at the tweet. Now."

Emma finally sits up, blinking the sleep out of her eyes to be able to focus on the phone screen. On it, there is a message and a video. The message is simple 'To #TeamSwanQueen Thank You' and Emma finds herself clicking play on the video.

A girl appears on the screen, her eyes watery and slightly red. She looks like she's in her early twenties, if that. She starts to speak. "Hi Emma and Regina. I don't know if you'll ever actually see this – I know it's not very likely you will – but I just really wanted to make this video to say thank you. Tonight, I sat and watched the premiere of Dancing with the Stars with my mom, just like always. Only I was watching a little more intently because I knew you would be dancing together. And I was so moved when your dance came on, I thought I was going to cry. After it was over, my mom turned to me and she said how beautiful it was, how beautiful you were together, and I just couldn't hold it together anymore. I started crying. When she asked me why, I finally told her. I'm gay. I've been so afraid to come out, so afraid of what her reaction would be. And she went really silent for a second and I started to panic and then –" the girl takes a breath that comes out almost like a sob, "and then she took my face in her hands and she said 'well, then honey, we better start getting you dance lessons, because I want to see you dance like that at your wedding'. I never imagined my mother would take it so well. So thank you, for dancing such a beautiful dance and for giving me the courage to finally come out and be who I am. My mom and I are voting for you."

Emma is silent when the video ends, fighting back tears of her own for a long moment. "I did that?"

Lily nods. "You did that. You and that partner of yours."

"Wow."

Lily sits down next to her. "Yeah. And there's more where that came from. You should see your feed. People are going crazy for you and Regina. And before you start arguing, I went on Twitter patrol last night. All those crazy haters are muted or blocked. I can't guarantee that you won't still see some bad things, but damn, will the good outweigh it."

**

"Emma!" Henry yells when Claude opens the door to her.

"Hey, kid." She smiles as he hugs her tight. "Aren't you supposed to be in school?"

"Mom said I could stay and have breakfast with you and go in late today. Claude's taking me once we're finished." Henry grins, grabbing her hand and tugging her towards the kitchen where Regina is stacking waffles onto a serving plate. There are already full plates of bacon and sausage, as well as a bowl of scrambled eggs. Emma feels her mouth begin to water.

"This is a one time only situation." Regina reminds, waving the spatula at him.

"Yeah, yeah." Henry smirks. "Oh, Emma! Did you see?" He pulls back and motions down to the shirt he's wearing. It's a black tee shirt with a large white swan wearing a crown in the center of it and Team Swan Queen emblazoned underneath it.

"Whoa! That's awesome." Emma feels giddy just looking at the t-shirt.

"They came this morning. There's tank tops and t-shirts for you and Mom, too."

"Seriously?"

Regina takes off her apron to reveal a purple Team Swan Queen tank top. "Seriously."

"C'mon. You can pick out yours!" Henry pulls her into another room where there are t-shirts and tank tops spread out all over the table, along with a card from a local t-shirt company that wishes them the best of luck in the competition.

Emma selects a white tank top with the swan and lettering in black and goes quickly into the bathroom to change. "We've gotta get a picture of this," She says when she comes back out, still flying high on the sudden surge of love they're getting, "and tweet it out. I can't believe we got shirts."

"You guys have, like, tons of fans!" Henry confirms from where he's loading his plate with waffles. "You're all over Twitter, Instagram, and on TV. You're definitely making it through this round."

"You think?" Emma asks as she grabs a plate and begins putting some of everything on it.

"Don't eat too much. We've got to get to work as soon as breakfast is over and I will not deal with you vomiting all over the place." Regina says, but she's grinning, so Emma just adds another waffle. She's pretty sure she won't vomit.

"Totally." Henry affirms. "I'm wearing my shirt to school today. Can't wait to tell everyone that my mom is on Team Swan Queen."

"You're a pretty awesome kid, you know that?" Emma grins, bumping their shoulders together.

"Duh." He laughs.

They eat breakfast and afterwards, Regina consents to a selfie of the three of them, Henry crammed in between them and grinning widely, their shirts proudly displayed. She tweets it out herself, along with the message:

 

@ReginaMills #TeamSwanQueen is a family thing.

Emma retweets it and tries hard not to think about things like family and how she could stand to do this with them every day.

**

"So," Regina says when they're settled out on the deck and Leroy has started the cameras rolling for their first interview of the week, "what song did you pick as your jam?"

She knows already, of course – had found out early yesterday both the song and the dance style – and if Emma had to guess, she's already begun choreographing their dance. But for the interview, they have to play it up like she doesn't know.

"My jam is I Wanna Dance With Somebody by Whitney Houston."

Regina smiles at that. "Great song choice. And it fits perfectly with our dance style this week, which is the Cha Cha. So, why this song?"

"I've just always loved it – I mean, who doesn't love Whitney? And the single was actually the very first cassette that I ever had. I wore that thing out." Emma laughs. "So it's got some memories attached to it, I guess."

She doesn't say that she stole the cassette from a record store when she was seven and that it was the very first thing that she ever remembers being _hers_.

"Plus, I just think that it's fitting for this situation, you know? A song about dancing."

"It certainly is." Regina nods. "So, let's get to work."

**

Rehearsals are grueling. They've got less time to prepare this week and Emma is determined to make this dance great and prove that it wasn't just a one off thing or the judges playing nice. Regina is in full task master mode, pushing her hard, which just causes Emma to push herself even harder.

As Regina keeps reminding her, the Cha Cha is very different from the Viennese Waltz and Regina definitely isn't taking it easy on her with the choreography either. There's a ton of turns and moments where she has to be sharp, yet sensual. The heeled dance shoes she's wearing are so not what she's used to and add an extra element of frustration for her. She has to be feminine and sexy instead of "walking like a linebacker", as Henry likes to point out.

There aren't any major fights or blow-ups, just little spats that Emma actually enjoys having with Regina. Still, she goes home exhausted and achy every night, fearing that she won't be able to get the routine in time.

Henry is a breath of fresh air whenever he gets home from school, bursting into their rehearsals and helping to keep things fun and entertaining.

Right now, he and Emma are sitting on the steps in the studio, waiting for Regina to return with an after school snack for him – and Emma, she hopes – and he's cracking up laughing at something he's watching on Regina's phone.

"What are you laughing at?" She leans over, trying to get a look at the video.

"It's a Dubsmash." He tells her.

"A what?" She asks, hitting play and watching as Hugh Jackman appears on the screen, but Alan Rickman's voice as Severus Snape comes out of his mouth.

"A Dubsmash. It's this app where you can find clips from movies and songs and stuff and then you record yourself so it looks like you're saying it. It's really funny. A bunch of celebrities are doing it." He looks over with a gleam in his eye. "Hey! You should do one. Or you and mom! You could tweet it to your followers. It would be awesome."

Emma thinks about it for all of two seconds before she reaches for her phone. "Henry, get me that app on my phone."

**

Less than five minutes later, Emma sends out a tweet.

@EmmaSwan I am the Swan Queen. #TeamSwanQueen

Attached is her doing a perfect Dubsmash to the line from Black Swan that had inspired their team name.

By the time that Regina returns, it's already had over a hundred reblogs and three hundred likes.

**

"When is Regina going to do a Dubsmash with you?" Emma reads with a grin into the camera before turning to look at Regina. "Regina?"

They're in the last fifteen minutes of their all access rehearsal, which has fallen on Friday this week. For the first forty-five minutes, Regina put Emma through her paces, going over small individual parts of the routine until Emma was hitting everything exactly how she wanted her to. Tomorrow, Emma knows, will be a lot of polishing, but she's finally starting to feel like they can actually pull this off by Monday.

Now they're taking Twitter questions, which is much more fun this week, and Emma is so happy that this question popped up, because she's been bugging Regina about doing a Dubsmash with her all week long.

"Oh for heaven's sake." Regina sighs.

Emma laughs. "So, okay, the story with the Dubsmash videos is that it was actually Regina's son who introduced me to them. And then I did the Black Swan one, obviously, which I think you guys really liked and then the Niles one."

That Dubsmash had happened after a particularly long rehearsal, where Emma was sweaty and exhausted and feeling like she might start to cry at any second. Regina wanted her to do the routine one more time and Emma didn't think she could even get up from where she had dropped unceremoniously onto the floor. Henry had encouraged her, telling her that she was a dancer, which had caused her to burst into a fit of laughter and demand her phone. She had recorded the 'I'm a dancer! A dancer dances!' line from Frasier in one take and then done the routine one more time with Regina.

"Henry and I have done a couple as well, but we haven't been posting those. But we're working on Regina, we promise. We'll get her."

"I just don't understand the appeal." Regina admits. "But if the fans want it… I suppose we could try one."

"Yes!" Emma cheers. "Way to go, guys! We got her."

**

On Monday morning, Emma sends out a Tweet.

@EmmaSwan Regina thinks I'm pretty. #TeamSwanQueen

Attached is a Dubsmash video of Emma and Regina reenacting the 'But you're like, really pretty' scene from Mean Girls, with Regina playing Regina George.

Henry laughs for a good five minutes, while Regina, who has never seen the movie, still doesn't see what all the fuss is about.

**

They're dancing sixth.

It's far better than being last and actually, Emma's pretty pleased that they're falling right in the middle of the pack. To her that means that they must've gotten a good enough response from people that they aren't worried about viewers tuning out after they're done. Little victories she'll happily take.

"Hey. Look at me." Regina says while they're waiting backstage for the commercial break to come to an end so they can dance. "You're going to do great. Just stay focused with me. Ignore everyone else, okay? And don't watch the package."

She'll be by herself out on the platform for the package and the first few moments of their dance. Regina doesn't want her distracted. Emma thinks maybe she needs a distraction from the thought of Regina's body pressing against hers on national television.

"Yeah," she nods and offers a smile before heading out to take her place.

**

She watches the package.

She can't help herself. It's actually pretty cool to see the clips of their dance from last week, as well as the footage that they got after the show of Henry hugging them both. Then they talk about the fact that they're at the top of the leader board. They show an interview with Ruby where she talks about how fantastic they did, as well as one with Zelena and Walsh where Walsh says that they need to steal some of the moves from her sister. That makes Emma laugh. They also show the interview from Regina's porch and an interview with just Regina where she talks about how she doesn't want people to think this comes easy to Emma. They follow that up by showing quite a few clips of Emma falling over in rehearsal, so she's pretty sure everyone gets the idea.

All in all, it's not a bad package and when the music starts, Emma feels ready to go.

She does her little solo where she moves her arms sensually to the music and then Regina comes up behind her, bodies pressing together as they move. Regina turns her and then her leg comes up, fully extended until Emma starts to feel it burn, but it feels good, with her skin against the leather of the jacket that Regina's wearing and the heat of Regina's hand on her calf, holding her in place.

The beat picks up and Regina spins her out, then back in again, before the second spin where she pulls off the poofy skirt Emma was wearing to reveal her actual dance outfit – a tight blue number with fringes that exposes a lot of skin, but that Emma actually feels rather empowered wearing.

She skips down the steps, moving almost effortlessly in her high heels and smiling the entire time. They go through the dance and Emma's smile is real. A part of her feels almost like that little seven year old again, dancing around just for the fun of it, before real life came crashing down.

"You're doing great. Remember to work the camera. Sassy." She hears Regina murmur in her ear on one of their passes and it makes her smile even wider, her eyes seeking out the camera. A few moments later and she swears she feels the brush of Regina's lips against her cheek before she's turned back around for the next part of the dance. They definitely didn't do that in rehearsal.

When they separate from hold and Emma dances past the camera, she blows a kiss into it, offering up a quick wink before doing her clap and then going back to the dance. Regina is working the sassy aspect too, winking and making faces as they dance.

At one point, Regina even makes the motion to smack Emma's ass as she moves her hips in the signature figure eight of the Cha Cha. Emma laughs in surprise, which she hopes looks good on camera.

They end the dance with a series of in hold turns and then Regina dipping her backwards.

The crowd goes crazy and Emma can't stop herself from laughing happily when Regina finally pulls her up.

"Fabulous." Regina murmurs in her ear as she hugs her. Emma holds on to her tightly, soaking in everything about Regina and this moment.

Sidney's voice cuts through the shouts of the crowd. "Emma and Regina. Come on over here. Let's see what the judges have to say. We'll start with Lacey."

Emma looks over, still trying to catch her breath from the dance and from being in Regina's arms. "First of all, girl, you are pretty much a powerhouse. That was fantastic. I mean, it looked like you were really in love with her. That is what I'm talking about!" Emma feels her face heat at just the mention of being in love with Regina, but she offers a smile and a laugh to try and play it off. "If I could give a bit of advice, I'd say to just make sure you remember to breathe, because I saw you holding your breath a few times."

Emma nods, knowing that Lacey is right. There were moments when she'd been holding her breath, mostly because she could believe that she was actually doing this.

"Jefferson?" Sidney queues him.

"You have the playfulness of a purring little kitten, darling. Adorable all the way through. And that cha cha, Regina, was so difficult – it had so many changes of paces, but you did it naturally, Emma. You have the attack of a warrior on a mission. Mission accomplished."

Regina smiles and nods, looking proud of her.

"Astrid."

"First of all, Regina, I loved the choreography. Like Jefferson said, it was difficult, but so wonderfully put together. And Emma, what I love is that when you step, you step hard. You step with purpose, and I love that. I loved it!"

"And finally, Mr. Gold."

Emma feels her stomach clench here. Gold is the judge she worries about most and she knows that Regina feels the same way although she won't ever say it.

"I told you I'd reserve judgment for this week and I can definitely say that you can dance. Good job, dearie."

"Praises all around, it sounds like." Sidney smiles at them. "Why don't you head on up to the skybox with Tina while the judges calculate their scores?"

It's the first time they've had to climb the stairs up to the skybox and Emma feels her calves protesting, but she bounds up them, happy to see some of her fellow contestants waiting for her with smiles, applause, and more hugs.

Tina waves them over with a smile of her own. "So, last week, you were at the top of the leaderboard. We kind of got a sense in the package that there was some pressure there this week. But what are you really like, week in and week out? Do you put that pressure on yourself?"

"I think I put pressure on myself just because I want to do well. Regina does a great job of pushing me to be my best and sometimes I push even harder than that, but it's only because I'm so grateful to be able to do this and to represent for so many people. There were so many great stories that I got to hear this week and I love what I'm doing, so I want to keep doing it for as long as I can."

"Great job. Let's get your scores."

"Astrid Faye."

"8."

"Robert Gold."

"8."

"Lacey French."

"8."

"Jefferson Tarrant."

"8."

"That's a 32 out of 40." Tina tells them as she and Regina hug again. "Your reaction to that?"

"I'm just very proud of her." Regina tells Tina, smiling. "She worked very hard this week and she deserves to be here."

"Alright, vote for these two if you want to see them stay. Let's head back to Sidney for our next couple on the floor."

**

She enjoys the remainder of the show, watching the others compete and just feeling good. She doesn't end up at the top of the leaderboard this time – Fred and Kathryn take that position, totally deservedly with 34 points – but she's tied for second with Mary Margaret and David and Walsh and Zelena.

But then the time comes for the first results of the year and she feels like she might be sick. They're placed on the stairs for the results and Emma holds tightly to Regina's hand, fearing she might fall.

"Hey. We're going through." Regina says, and she sounds like she's got all the confidence in the world. Emma just nods and stares straight ahead while Sidney and Tina start to talk.

"Well, sadly, and I hate this part," Tina is saying, "but one couple is about to be eliminated based on the judges scores from last week and your votes from last week."

"Here we go." Sidney says. "Sir Lancelot and Mulan, Aurora and Phillp, Milah and Killian, and Granny and Billy. Would those four couples please come down to the center?"

Emma's heart is pounding wildly as she tries to figure out how this is going to play out. Are they the safe ones? Are they in jeopardy? Tina answers the thoughts running through her mind.

"Now, if we didn't call your name – all of you on the stairs – you guys are safe."

Emma exhales a huge breath, spinning to wrap her arms around Regina and hug her tightly in celebration. They made it through the first elimination. She gets to stay and dance again.

"And that of course means that these four couples are in jeopardy and one of them will be going home right now."

"Let's reveal some more results. The next couple who is safe is…" There's a long pause and Emma kind of hates Sidney for dragging things out. "Aurora and Philip."

"Also definitely coming back next week is Milah and Killian."

"Lancelot and Mulan, Granny and Billy. While not necessarily the bottom two, one of you did have the lowest total of judges' points and viewer votes and will be leaving us tonight."

Emma prays that it isn't Granny, although Lancelot had danced a million times better this evening and it will suck if he has to go. She knows it's a competition, but this is difficult, watching others have to leave.

"Okay, let's find out who's going home." Tina says. "On this second week of competition, the first couple to be eliminated this season is… Lancelot and Mulan."

There are boos and shouts of sadness from the audience, but Lancelot takes it with a nod and smile. He is kind and thankful in his little exit interview and Emma finds herself wishing she had gotten to know him a bit better.

Still, she's glad that Granny will be around for a while longer. And she's definitely glad that she's sticking around too.


	7. Week 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song they dance to in this chapter is Masterpiece by Jesse J. Their dance is based off of [Rumer Willis and Valentin Chmerkovskiy's Foxtrot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qft38MQhy-c) to Take Me To Church by Hozier.

******

**WEEK 3**

******

**I still fall on my face sometimes**  
**And I can't color inside the lines**  
**'Cause I'm perfectly incomplete**  
**I'm still working on my masterpiece**  
**And I, I wanna hang with the greats**  
**Got a way to go, but it's worth the wait**  
**No, you haven't seen the best of me**  
**I'm still working on my masterpiece**

******

"So this week is Most Memorable Year Week. Any idea what your most memorable year is?" Regina asks her on Tuesday morning after an early breakfast – so that Henry could eat with them – while they're sitting on the back porch.

They're heading to the studio in about an hour, where they'll have to get approval on their song and Regina will have to get choreographing, so Emma knows she needs to have an idea now. But the truth is, she doesn't, really.

"Not many years I want to remember, really." Emma shrugs, refusing to meet Regina's eyes.

"Okay." Regina looks at her, but doesn't say anything else for quite some time.

"You were in the foster system growing up?" Regina's heard this, of course, but she wants to get the whole story.

"Yeah. From the day I was born until I finally ran away at fifteen." Emma nods, still staring straight ahead, determined to get through this conversation without becoming emotional. Emotions made you weak and Emma had stopped showing them a very long time ago.

"I was found along the side of the road when I was a baby. The doctors determined that I was only a few hours old when I was left there. I had a onesie on and was wrapped in a blanket that had Emma embroidered on it. That's how they got my name."

Regina gasps, that horrified sound that Emma has heard from every mother she's ever told this story to. It's stopped hurting as much over the years, just a dull ache instead of the sharp, stabbing pain of her youth, but it makes her wonder again, what was so wrong with her own mother that she wasn't horrified by leaving her child on the side of the road. Or what was so wrong with her that her mother did leave her on the side of the road.

"I got placed with a family right away. The Swans. They raised me from the time I was found until I was three. And then they found out they were pregnant with their own child. Their real child."

"Emma." Regina murmurs, still sounding horrified, as though she knows what's coming.

"They gave me back." Emma shakes her head and swallows hard. "I was three years old. And they just..."

Regina's hand settles over her own, her grip firm, trying to give strength to Emma.

"I was in and out of foster homes after that, but was always sent back for one reason or another. It wasn't… there are a lot of memories there." She admits. "But none that I like to remember. A lot that I've tried really hard to forget, actually. I finally ran away when I was fifteen. I met Lily and we both just decided we were done with the system."

"You were fifteen?" Regina sounds appalled. "Where did you live? How did you survive?"

"There was a lot of squatting, that first year. Then we got my Bug and… well, if we both crammed into the backseat we could sleep and stay warm enough that we wouldn't freeze. That worked until we could finally get a cheap apartment."

"My god." Regina whispers.

"It was okay, though. We had each other's backs, which I'd never really had before. We made it work. And then we both got jobs and… we managed. But like I said, not a lot of happy memories or things we could dance to."

"What about this year? I mean, you becoming the Savior and all of that. I know you're not fond of the name, but Emma, it's still a huge thing that you did."

"Yeah." Emma nods. "Yeah, I guess. I mean, this year has definitely been memorable in a good way. Saving those kids. Doing this. Dancing with you." She looks over and smiles at Regina in a way that's probably just a little bit love sick. "This is good. This is… I feel like it's not where I want to be, but it's better than where I was."

Regina hums softly at that, seemingly lost in thought and then she turns to Emma with a smile. "I've got it. I've got our song. And an idea. Come on. We've got backs to pack and a plane to catch."

"What? Regina?" Emma stands up to follow after her. She has no idea what Regina is thinking. But she also knows that she's going to follow her wherever she goes.

**

By Tuesday evening, Regina's song choice has been approved, she's choregraphed a gorgeous dance, and Emma has had at least three hours of practice on it.

They're also sitting on a plane together. Emma snaps a picture to Tweet and then considers how she can get Regina to do a Dubsmash on the flight.

@EmmaSwan LAX -> BOS. #TeamSwanQueen

"So, Regina."

"No. I am not doing a Dubsmash to anything from Snakes on a Plane." Regina tells her, completely deadpan.

Emma opens her mouth, but before she can even say anything Regina cuts her off.

"Or Airplane. And I swear if you say 'surely you can't be serious', I will destroy your happiness if it is the last thing I do."

"Bridesmaids?" Emma offers innocently. Regina ignores her.

Just before they land at LAX, Emma tweets again.

@EmmaSwan There is a colonial woman on the wing.

The Dubsmash shows her doing her best Kristen Wiig while Regina stares on, unimpressed.

**

"You okay?" Regina asks as Emma comes to a stop outside the building, her hand on the door.

"Yeah." Emma nods. "Just… yeah."

She pulls the door to the group home open and steps inside, trying to push down memories of her own times in places like these.

"Emma!" The shouts come up as soon as they enter the playroom, little voices yelling her name and little feet rushing towards them.

"Hey!" Emma drops down to her knees, bracing for the impact as little bodies slam into her. She hugs the kids tightly, pushing away the smell of fire and taste of smoke that hits her for just a moment. "How are you guys?"

"Good!" All the children crowd around, yelling excitedly for Emma. "We watched you dance!" One of the girls calls out. "You were beautiful."

"Thanks, kid." Emma beams at her. Then she turns to find Regina, who is hanging back by where Leroy is filming, just watching the scene unfold. "I want you guys to meet Regina. She's the one teaching me to dance."

"You pretty, Gina." One of the little boys calls out to her and Regina can't stop the smile from spreading on her face as she leans down to his level. "Well, you are very handsome yourself."

  
"Teach us to dance!" One of the children cries and soon all of them are chanting along. "Teach us to dance! Teach us to dance!"

"Alright, alright." Emma grins, standing up. "How about a little Cha Cha?"

**

Regina is amazing with the kids, which doesn't surprise Emma at all. She is patient yet goofy with them, and they're all very taken by her. They even all team up to convince Regina to do a Dubsmash with them.

Regina records herself shouting "And you'll practice your steps until you get perfect tens," after which Emma pops into frame saying "Yes, Miss Hannigan" and then the kids all pop up singing It's The Hard Knock Life.

It's hilarious and the kids love it, making Emma play it again and again on her phone, which makes Regina seem to love it in turn.

Emma dances around with them for a while after that, until she and Leroy head off to a private room for the first of her interviews this week. She talks briefly about her time in the system and then about the night of the fire, when she'd rushed into a building to save some of the very children that she's been dancing with now. She ends the interview with a passionate call for people to not overlook children in the foster system and to remember that they need a forever family too.

It's hard, being back here and facing her past in such a way, bringing her emotions to the surface. But she also feels like it's something she needs to do, something she needs to face, so that she can finally move on.

**

It's at the end of their last rehearsal before camera blocking on Sunday that Emma finally breaks down.

The finals strains of the song that Regina had chosen for her – Jessie J's Masterpiece – fade out and Emma just finds herself crying. She can't really explain why, but figures that it's probably got something to do with general exhaustion from all the rehearsals, jetlag from their trip to Boston, and the emotions that have been swirling right under the surface all week. Now that she's finally made it through the routine without messing it up, it's caused the dam to break.

"Emma!" Regina sounds concerned, which just makes Emma cry all the harder and hate that she's crying in the first place. She is hyper aware of the camera recording this moment of emotion and she slides down the wall to bury her head in her knees, trying to control the sobs that just keep rising up from deep inside her.

"Hey," Regina is kneeling beside her, leaning close, "Emma, talk to me. What's going on?"

"I don't - I can't – I just -" Emma stutters, trying to pull herself together, "it's just a lot."

"The dance?" Regina asks, but Emma shakes her head.

"I'm sorry." She says a moment later when she has managed to stop the sobs. She scrubs at her face to get rid of the tears and lets her head fall back against the wall. "I just got overwhelmed with emotion for a minute there. I'm sorry."

Regina lets out a sound of relief before moving to sit next to her. "Don't apologize. It's an emotional dance. I want that emotion from you."

"Yeah, but you don't want me breaking down." Emma laughs a watery laugh.

"Tell me what you were thinking?" Regina asks and Emma considers not responding, not while they're here, with the camera still going. But she thinks about trust and how Regina has been vulnerable with her and she speaks.

"I used to think about them a lot, you know? My birth parents. I used to wonder why they gave me up. I'd make up all these crazy stories in my head - that they were spies for the CIA - but eventually I realized that they just didn't want me. That no one wanted me."

"Emma."

"It just all kind of hit me at once after that last go through. They abandoned me on the side of the road because they didn't want me. They never came back for me. They aren't _ever_ going to come back for me." She finally says out loud what she's known for so long but hasn't been able to bring herself to admit.

"I just… I just started feeling it all at once, those feelings I had when I was in the system. I was just a little girl. Just a lost little girl, who didn't matter. And didn't think she ever would. A little girl who cried herself to sleep at night because she wanted her parents so bad and could never understand why they gave her up. I just suddenly felt like what I've always been. An orphan. I'm always going to be an orphan."

Regina wraps an arm around her shoulder to pull her close and hold her tight. And she wants to pull away, but she can't make herself, because Regina is safe and warm and comforting and everything a mother should be. And even in her despair, Emma finds herself so thankful that Regina is a mother, that Regina has Henry and that Henry has Regina.

She takes a shuddering breath before she continues. "I still wonder about them. I've been wondering about them a lot this week because of everything. I wonder if they're still alive. I wonder if they're out there somewhere, watching the show. I wonder if they even know who I am. If they even remember me at all. I wonder if the Swans remember me. I wonder if they ever regret it. Giving me up. I wonder what they'd think, if they are watching, seeing me dance now."

"They'd probably think that they were idiots for giving you up. Which they were. And they'd probably regret what they did. Which they should. Because you're an incredible woman, Emma. And you have to remember that. Their flaws were just that – theirs. You did nothing wrong. And now you're showing them just what they missed out on."

Emma cries again then, letting her head fall against Regina's shoulder until the tears finally stop and dry on her cheeks.

**

They're dancing first.

Emma is not exactly happy about this fact, but she also doesn't have much choice in the matter either. At least, she thinks, she can get it over with, but by the same token, then she'll have the whole rest of the show to stew and worry about how she did and how the results are going to turn out.

Still, she's pretty excited about what she and Regina have come up with for this week. Their foxtrot really does tell a story and Emma feels connected to it in a way that she hasn't in the other dances. This time, more than before, this dance is about Emma. She just hopes that she can do it justice.

  
Dress rehearsal had gone beautifully – the best dress rehearsal they've had so far – so Emma hopes that it's a good omen for what's about to happen.

She should know that it isn't.

**

Regina dances in the opening number with the other pros, which means that as soon as she's done with that dance, she has to rush off and change for their dance. That also means that Emma is alone on the dance floor during the package – no Regina to remind her not to watch.

Not that she's listened to Regina's advice about that yet, but now she realizes that she should have. Because their package this week is hard to watch.

They've put her interview from the group home in, along with some footage of her and Regina dancing with the kids, which isn't bad. She thinks that it might actually help raise some awareness about the kids out there who need homes. But then they've also cut in video footage from the night of the fire, which sets her slightly on edge. She never wanted to be a savior and although she has played it off, she still sometimes has nightmares about the fire where she doesn't save the kids and she doesn't make it out either. Then they show her crying with Regina, lamenting her past and she suddenly feels completely naked and vulnerable in front of all of these people.

It's as the package is ending with an interview from Regina, saying how far Emma has come and how proud she is of her, that Regina finally makes it into position on the dance floor. She seems to recognize the panic in Emma's eyes, because she grabs her hand and squeezes. "You're okay." She says. "You can do this."

But suddenly, Emma doesn't think she can.

The music starts and her body begins to move automatically, going through the motions of the dance. But her emotions are running rampant as they move together and then grasp hands as they pull apart.

"Stay with me, Emma." Regina murmurs as they pull back together and Emma tries. She really does.

She manages it too, for the most part, focusing on Regina and blocking everything else out. Her long black dress flows around her as they move through turns and into hold and she thinks about lines and pictures and anything she can to try to push her emotions down.

But then, there comes the moment when she spins into an embrace with Regina and suddenly, the tears are falling and she can't seem to stop them. She pulls out of the embrace a second behind the beat and she blinks rapidly to try to clear her eyes and see where she is.

She manages to correct it and feels the fire burn within her to stop crying and finish this dance, which she does. But she knows that her movements aren't as clean as they need to be and she knows that she isn't smiling like she should be. And as the music finally ends and Regina's hand comes to rest on her wet cheek, all Emma can feel is shame.

She's ruined everything and it's only week 3.

**

They end up with a 30 – two sevens from Astrid and Gold and two eights from Lacey and Jefferson. It isn't the worst score of the night – Aurora and Philip only manage a 22 – but it's bad enough for Emma to lock herself into the bathroom during the first commercial break and sob.

Mary Margaret of all people – she and David end up earning a 34, the highest score of the night – knocks on the door and tries to tell her that things are okay, but Emma doesn't move from her spot and eventually she gives up.

All Emma can hear is Gold's comment to her "It wasn't a masterpiece to me" ringing in her ears. She feels completely worthless, just like Regina said she was that first week. Maybe she had been right.

But Emma also knows that she can't hide out in the bathroom forever, so she finally washes her face clean of the smeared makeup and tear tracks, and opens the door.

Regina is waiting on the other side, leaning against the wall. "You finished with your little pity party now?" She asks and Emma nearly balks, but then sees the concern in dark eyes that give away her otherwise neutral expression.

Emma swallows and then nods. "Yeah."

"Good. Because you danced beautifully tonight. And yes, maybe you made some mistakes, but you also put your heart and soul into that dance – messy as it may have been at times. And that counts for something, Emma. That counts for a lot. The viewers will see that." Regina tucks a lock of hair that has fallen down from her braid back behind her ear and smiles at her in a way that is so beautiful and caring that Emma just wants to fall into her arms and be held there forever. "Now, let's get back out there."

**

Aurora and Philip are sent packing at the end of the show.

She and Regina are never even in jeopardy.

She hugs Aurora tightly and cries just a little bit more while the cameras are still rolling.


	8. Week 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song they dance to in this chapter is Poor Unfortunate Souls from The Little Mermaid. Their dance is based off of [Rumer Willis and Valentin Chmerkovskiy's Samba](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8M__kxfis8k) to the same song.

**

**WEEK 4**

******

**You'll have your looks, your pretty face**  
**And don't underestimate the importance of body language  
**

**

The sound of knocking wakes Emma up.

For a second, she thinks that she's back in her apartment in Boston and that it's their landlord, banging on the door for the rent check, but awareness slowly seeps in and she sits up, surprised. She doesn't know anyone in LA. Or at least, not anyone that would be knocking on her door right now, because none of the people she knows in LA know where she lives.

But the knocking continues. Maybe it's Lily and she's locked herself out – which would certainly not be a first, and would also explain why she isn't answering the door. Emma stumbles out of bed and heads for the door. Lily so owes her breakfast for this rude awakening.

"Seriously, how did you manage to –" Emma starts, tugging open the door, only to stop abruptly as she takes who is actually banging on her door. "Henry?"

"Hi." He grins up at her.

"Hi." She replies, looking past him for any sign of Regina in the hallway, but there's no one else there besides Henry, who just marches right past her and into the apartment like he belongs there.

"Do you have any juice?" He's asking by the time Emma manages to shut the door. "Never mind, I found some!"

"Henry, what are you doing here? Shouldn't you be at school? And where is your mother?"

"Do you guys like, not have any glasses or dishes or anything?" Henry is digging through the various cupboards in the kitchen and Emma realizes that she doesn't know whether they have glasses or not. They didn't pack any to bring with them that she knows of, and pretty much every meal she's eaten since she's been here has been at restaurants, the studio, Regina's, or take out. She's been drinking out of her water bottle, which Regina had given her after their first rehearsal, stressing the importance of drinking lots of water. So Emma has had no need for any glasses or dishes.

"Henry!" She tries to say it in that 'mom tone' that she's heard Regina use and she's sure she hasn't actually accomplished it, but it's enough to stop Henry's movements from where he's drinking from their orange juice container. Orange juice that Emma didn't even know they had.

"School doesn't start for another hour." Henry finally says to her. "And I wanted to come see you this morning because I know you were really upset last night, but I wanted to tell you that you don't need to be. You were awesome and I mean, yeah, you kinda messed up a little bit and cried on national TV, but I've been checking social media and everyone thinks it made you totally likeable. They're upset at the judges for being mean and they're all voting for you, so you don't need to worry about anything."

Emma blinks at that. "Okay. That's… great? But Henry, you didn't answer the most important question I asked you. Where is your mother?"

Henry looks down then, avoiding her eyes and Emma's stomach sinks. It sinks even lower than it had the night before. "Henry?"

"At home." He mumbles and no, no, please no. Please don't let what Emma is thinking be true.

"How did you get here, Henry, if your mom is still at home?" She's praying that he'll say that Claude brought him and is going to drop him off at school when he's done with his little pep talk, but he doesn't.

"I called a car."

"You called a – Henry! Does Regina know where you are?"

"No?" He whispers, his voice going up like a question when it is so clearly not a question at all.

"Henry! She's probably worried sick about you! She probably thinks you've been kidnapped. When she finds out what you've done she's going to kill me! And then you! And then me again! What the hell were you thinking, kid?"

"She was still asleep and I just wanted to see you. I know you were upset. I didn't want you to be. I wanted to make you feel better." Henry looks like he's about to cry.

Emma pulls him into a hug, although it's still slightly awkward for her. "And I love that about you, kid. But you cannot go off without telling your mother. Especially not in this city. Who knows what could've happened to you? C'mon. We've gotta get you home."

Emma grabs the keys to the Bug, not even caring that she's still in her pajamas and bare feet. Henry follows after her, not saying anything about it.

"How did you even know where I lived?" Emma asks as she cranks up the Bug.

"Duh." Henry rolls his eyes. "The internet."

**

Emma tries calling Regina five times on the ride to her place. Every time it goes straight to voicemail. Emma's sure that Regina's on the phone with the police or the FBI or something. She drives all the faster.

When they pull into the driveway, the front door flies open before they're even out of the car. Regina races out and falls to her knees, pulling Henry to her with a cry of his name that makes tears come to Emma's eyes.

"Henry." Regina sobs, holding on to him like she's afraid he's going to disappear. "Are you okay? Where have you been? What happened?"

"I went to go see Emma." Henry tells her softly.

"You – what?" She looks up then and sees Emma for the first time.

"Hi." Emma offers a sheepish smile, feeling wholly uncomfortable at this situation.

"Did you know about this?" Regina stands and her voice is hard and cold in a way that Emma hasn't heard it before.

"What? No. Regina, of course not." Emma denies. "As soon as I realized that you didn't know where Henry was, I brought him home."

"Mom –" Henry can tell that his mother is angry and he tries to calm her down.

Regina spins on him. "And you – what were you thinking? Why on earth would you go to Emma's without telling me?"

"You were asleep and I didn't want Emma to be upset about last night and I just –"

"You didn't want Emma to be upset." Regina repeats. "But it was fine for me to think you had been kidnapped or worse?"

"No, Mom, I –"

"Regina, he really didn't –"

"You don't get to speak." Regina hisses at Emma before turning back to her son. "Henry, go to your room."

"But Mom I –"

"No. You are grounded young man. And you are not to see Emma again."

Emma balks at that, actually flinching back. "Regina," she starts, trying to be calm and break through the frantic haze that Regina is obviously trapped in, but Regina is having none of it.

"You don’t get to see my son unless I say so. And right now? I don’t say so." Regina sounds like she could kill Emma on the spot and Emma feels traitorous tears well up behind her eyes at the anger being directed at her.

"Okay." Emma stutters out, because it's all she can manage. If she wasn't sure that her time on Dancing was up after last night, she feels like it most definitely is now because there's no way that Regina will be her partner anymore. The tears that she's been holding back break free and slide down her cheeks. She quickly turns away, ready to run back to her car and get as far away from here as possible, but she's stopped by the sound of Henry's voice.

"Mom!" Henry yells and Regina snaps back to look at him, her eyes widening at his tone. "What are you doing? Why are you yelling at Emma? She didn't do anything! She didn't know I was coming to see her and as soon as she realized you didn't know where I was, she brought me back. She's still in her pajamas, Mom. She's not even wearing shoes." He flings his hand out toward Emma so that Regina can finally actually look at her. "And she tried to call you like, five times on the way over here to tell you that I was with her. She even tried texting a few times."

Regina blinks and then finally seems to settle. She reaches into her pocket to pull out her phone, only to see the exact calls and texts Henry is telling her about. She looks from Henry to Emma and back again, wincing when she sees the tears that Emma cannot hide. "Emma." She whispers, moving closer, suddenly mournful over what she's done.

Emma shakes her head and offers a smile that isn't fooling anyone. "It's fine. You were worried about your son. I get it." She looks at Henry and offers him a slightly more genuine, but still wobbly smile, "Thank you for being worried about me, Henry. But I'm fine. So please, just, do as your mother asks and don't come see me anymore."

"Emma!" Henry protests, but she turns to walk away, this time determined to escape.

"No, Emma, please, wait." Regina grabs her arm to stop her from leaving. "I'm sorry. I'm so sorry. I should never have acted that way. I just – I panicked and I let my anger and my insecurities get the better of me. Please, believe me, I'm sorry. Please."

Regina is begging and Regina doesn't beg, but there's something so sincere in her eyes and Emma knows that she can't deny her anything.

"Okay."

"Okay?" Regina asks, unsure of what is happening.

Emma scrubs away the tears. "Okay. You're forgiven. I can't be mad at you for wanting to protect your son, Regina."

And that statement, coupled with Regina's growing cognizance of everything that Emma herself has been going through since the night before, cause Regina to look even more apologetic than she did before. "I'm sorry. I –"

"Stop apologizing." Emma is the one who is in control now. "It's fine. You should get Henry to school and I should go home and put on some actual clothes. I'll meet you at the studio."

"Orrrr," Henry drawls out, already grinning, "Mom could let you borrow some clothes and we could both go with you. You could drop me off to school and still be at the studio with mom on time."

"Henry, we can't ask Emma – after what I've just said – surely she –"

"If you have something I could toss on, I'd be okay with that." Emma just shrugs and Regina finally seems to breath normally after that.

**

"So," Henry says, leaning forward from the back seat once they're settled into the 'yellow death trap', as Regina called it, "it's Disney Week this week, huh?"

"Oh." Emma blinks, as though just realizing that she hasn't actually been kicked off the show. Yet. "Yeah."

"Do you know what song you're dancing to?"

"Do we?" Emma looks to Regina.

"Not yet. We're going to be meeting with the music department first thing to make our selection from the list of songs they've gotten cleared."

"Do you have any ideas?"

"A few." Regina nods absentmindedly.

"What about you, Emma?"

"Oh, me? Well, I mean, I don't really have any say do I? I mean, I know I did on My Jam Monday but your mom is the one that has to do all the hard work of choreographing and stuff. So whatever she wants is fine with me."

"Oh, come on. You've got to have some songs that you'd like to dance to." Henry needles. "A favorite Disney movie at least."

Emma shrugs, changing lanes. "I don't know."

"Well, what princess did you want to be growing up?"

"I don't think I wanted to be a princess at all. Not really Disney princess material, here." She laughs.

"A villain then? Mom's always been kind of partial to the villains."

"Oh yeah?" Emma looks over at her and offers her a smile that is genuine this time.

"Yeah! She really likes Ursula. And Maleficient."

Emma slows to a stop outside Henry's school. "Good to know."

Henry leans forward and hugs Regina tightly from behind, kissing her cheek. "Bye Mom, I love you." Then he moves over and hugs Emma too. "Bye Emma. Thanks for the ride. Good luck at rehearsal."

  
Emma and Regina wave at him as he runs up the stairs to his school and Emma again does everything she can to not think about family and how natural this all feels.

**

"People are going to be expecting, when you're doing Disney night, that Frozen will be in there." Wendy, one of the women who works on getting their music choices cleared, explains to them. "And our first thought was for you to do it."

Emma grimaces. "I feel like that's really not me. Like, if you gave it to one of the other couples, I think it would be great. But can we not do that for me?"

"Okay." Wendy offers her a smile, looking back down at the computer. "What princess would you want to be?"

"Do I have to be a princess?" Emma asks, then looks at Regina. Regina just raises her eyebrows. "Or, well, does the song have to be a princess song?"

"Not necessarily. Why? What are you thinking about?" Wendy asks.

"Well, I did have one idea." Emma offers up with a grin.

**

"I cannot believe you." Regina says once Wendy has left them with the cleared song that Emma selected. At least she sounds amused and not mad.

"What? I know you'll do amazing things with this. And it's something that's more suited to us anyway."

"Because Ariel and Ursula were lesbians?" Regina shoots back at her.

"To some people, I'm sure." Emma laughs. "But seriously, Regina, I couldn't deal with dancing to one of those sappy Disney love songs that you know everyone is going to do. And I think we can do something awesome with this."

"Well, we're going to be doing a samba with this, that's for sure. And we're going to have to give Gold a traditional samba. So we need to get to work on your movements."

**

"Think about resistance. Like you're actually moving through water. Think about what that would feel like." Regina says as she watches Emma go through the routine by herself.

Emma stops, exhausted after the full day of rehearsal they've put in. Regina has come up with a dance that Emma loves. It's sassy and sexy – and Regina's body is pressed against hers for quite a bit of it, which she finds she doesn't mind at all. But she's having trouble getting into the character of it all. Regina has had no issue with finding her inner Ursula, but Emma's Ariel is a little harder to come by.

"Can we do that?" She asks as she comes to a stop. "Can we actually do it in the water? Not for the show, of course, but to practice. So that I can actually feel what that resistance is like? If I'm supposed to be a mermaid… shouldn't I get to feel what that's like?"

Regina looks at her for a long second before a smile spreads over her face. "I'll have to call Sarah to get our filming and rehearsal approved. But I think that is an excellent idea."

**

It was an excellent idea. Right up until Emma saw Regina walk out of the house in her skintight black bikini that left nothing to Emma's imagination.

"Are you – I mean – can you – will that – will your top stay on?" Emma finally manages to stutter out after looking Regina up and down.

Regina laughs at her. "I'll be fine, dear. How about you? Do you think you'll be alright with that suit?"

Regina had sent her over a bathing suit to wear that had an attached skirt to help mimic the dress she would be wearing. "Yeah. Yep. Yeah. I'll be good."

"Alright." Regina smirks. "Shall we just get to it?"

"Lead the way." Emma defers to her.

And with that, Regina pushes her into the pool.

**

The time in the pool definitely helps Emma with the dance. She can feel the fluidity that she needs to make sure her body has outside of the water and it helps her to feel like the mermaid she's supposed to be playing.

The time in the pool definitely does not help Emma with her growing feelings of attraction – and maybe more – for Regina. Their bodies are in constant contact and when they aren't, there is continual brushing against each other as they move.

Emma does her best to tamp down on the rampant lust that is running through her body, but sometimes it is very, very difficult.

The samba rolls, when Regina is pressed tight against her back and they're moving in circles together, are the worst. They're absolute torture and Emma keeps messing them up because she gets distracted by the feel of Regina's skin against her own. In turn, Regina makes her practice them again and again. It's a vicious cycle that Emma almost doesn't want to break.

After spending most of the day in the pool with Regina, Emma goes home and takes a very cold shower.

**

In the midst of everything else, they are booked for an interview on Ellen.

Most of the other dancers have been making their rounds and Steve Harvey had wanted them to appear on his show, but it had been while they were in Boston last week, so they'd missed it. As part of Emma's contract, she's obligated to do some promotional appearances and she has done some already – they'd stopped by a Boston morning show while there and she's done a few interviews with Access Hollywood.

But Ellen wants them to do her show and the studio wants them to do Ellen. So they're taking time on Thursday to go film the show that will air on Friday. Emma is nervous, of course, but mostly excited. She loves Ellen – who doesn't? – and feels really honored to be on the show.

She just hopes she doesn't mess up the dance that they're to do.

**

The taping is actually really fun. Ellen is exactly like she appears to be – open and funny and kind.

They talk about the show and the partnership between Regina and Emma. Ellen praises them both and says how wonderful it is to see a couple that is the same sex dancing together.

They also talk about Emma being 'The Savior' and her campaign for foster children. Then they get talking about the Dubsmash videos and even Regina admits that she really does enjoy doing them and that they'll be doing more soon.

The whole interview is only about ten minutes long, but it's definitely fun and then they get to perform. They do their Cha Cha to I Wanna Dance With Somebody and it's even more fun to dance with Regina in that situation, when there are no judges and no pressure. It's just them, dancing together, and it feels so different, but so good.

At the end, Ellen tells them that her money is on them and then she hugs them both. Emma accepts the hug with open arms and a smile on her face.

**

"Whoa." Emma gasps when she sees Regina in full costume and make up for the first time. They've outfitted her with a white wig that looks amazing and have actually painted her body purple. She looks incredible. "You look amazing."

"I'm purple." Regina deadpans, but Emma can see the hint of childlike glee dancing behind her eyes. She really does love Ursula. "The red looks good." She says then, nodding to the wig on Emma's head. "And so does that dress."

Emma's dress has the purple bikini top like Ariel wore and then is sheer over her torso before going into a green skirt. The skirt looks almost shredded at the bottom, which reaches just above her knees. Emma really does kind of love the whole ensemble, but not as much as she loves Regina's outfit.

"We gotta take a selfie. We're in the clear, since the show is already on." Emma grins, leaning over with her cell phone already raised. Regina had danced in the opening number again and then rushed to get painted and ready to dance.

"I liked it better when you hated Twitter." Regina grouses, but she's smiling.

"One minute to places for you two." A production assistant tells them.

"Hey." Regina grabs her hand for a minute. "Forget last week. Forget me being a royal bitch this week. Forget the switch next week." Emma frowns just a bit at that. Next week is Switch Week, where they'll have to dance with different partners for the week and Emma isn't sure she's ready for that. "Just remember to have fun with it. That's what matters this week. Alright?"

"Alright." Emma nods.

**

Their dance goes perfectly.

At least, to Emma it does. There truly is something magical about Disney night and she's so glad that she decided to push for Poor Unfortunate Souls as their song. Regina is incredible as Ursula and the way they move together is just amazing. All the hard work definitely paid off.

Emma feels like she's back in the water as she moves and she loves the feel of Regina pressed against her as she dances. For once there are no other thoughts in Emma's head while she's dancing. She doesn't think of Mary Margaret and David's waltz to Some Day My Prince Will Come and how they'd actually kissed at the end and she'd wanted to punch them both in the face for being able to do something like that on national television. She doesn't think about Killian and Milah's Paso Doble to He's A Pirate which had garnered them the top score of the night so far – a 38 that will be hard to beat. She only thinks about the dance – and maybe about the importance of body language, as her body feels like it's talking to Regina's.

The audience erupts when they're finished, louder than Emma thinks she's ever heard them. It's a feeling like triumph as Regina helps her stand and hugs her, whispering how great she did in her ear.

"Emma and Regina. Come on over here." Sidney calls and for the first time, Emma isn't afraid as she steps towards the judges' table.

"Let's get some comments on that incredible dance." Sidney says, but it's barely heard over the audience who is still cheering them on.

Astrid starts off, finally managing to get the crowd quiet enough to speak. "That was sickly creative. I mean, it was out of this world and odd and weird, but it turned me on. I loved it."

Emma laughs at that.

Next it's Gold's turn. "I know that you struggled last week. But tonight, you proved something, Emma. You proved that you are a fantastic dancer."

It feels like the highest praise that Emma has ever received to hear that from Gold and she wants to run over and hug him for it, but instead just hugs Regina closer.

"You both just made Ursula like, the sexiest animated character on the planet, Regina." Lacey says while Emma grins as she motions to Regina. "And I'm starting to question if something was going on with her and Ariel now, too after that. But honestly, that was the best dance of the night."

Jefferson doesn't have much time, but he still manages to get in a quick comment that is very him. "Deliciously wicked, darlings. Absolutely delicious."

They make it to the skybox and are instantly swarmed by the others. Emma laughs when Ruby whispers in her ear how hot she looks.

"Come over here, you two." Tina calls for them. "So talk to me about this decision to not go the traditional route with your dance tonight."

"Well, when I found out that Regina loves Ursula, I just knew that I wanted to do this song. And she did such an amazing job making it fit our dance style. And the production was amazing – I mean the smoke and the lighting and everything. It was just so much fun. Definitely my favorite so far."

"Well, let's get some scores to see if it was the judges' favorite too."

"Astrid Faye."

"10." The ten paddle has Mickey ears, which is the first thing that Emma notices. The second is that it actually says 10 on it and Emma jumps up with a shout because she cannot believe it. A 10!

"Robert Gold."

"9." Emma feels a moment of disappointment, but she quickly shakes it off. Getting a 9 from Gold feels too good after last week.

"Lacey French."

"10." Emma hears Regina's laughter next to her on this one.

"Jefferson Turrant."

"10."

"39 out of 40. You just took the top spot for the evening." Tina says, but Emma doesn't even hear her, because Regina has actually lifted Emma up and is spinning her around in happiness. Emma laughs and laughs and it's so different from last week that it feels like a dream.

**

They're in the bottom three during the results and Emma feels everything crash down around her as she holds on Regina and prays to any god that will listen to _please don't let this be over. Please just don't let this end now._

"Emma and Regina." Tina says, her usually perky voice sounding grave, and Emma braces for the impact. "You will not be together next week." Tears flood Emma's eyes and she's pretty sure she's going to pass out right then. "Because you'll be taking part in Switch Week. You're safe tonight!" Tina says then, her voice back to chipper.

Emma is gasping for air though and Regina has to turn to her once she's sure the cameras aren’t trained on them anymore, putting both hands on her cheeks. "We're safe. You're safe. We're okay." She whispers over and over until it finally sinks in to Emma that they haven't been eliminated. She hasn't lost Regina.

"We're safe." She whispers back.

Neal and Tamara aren't safe. They've been voted off and Emma feels a pang of sadness, but it's overshadowed by her overwhelming relief that she still gets to stay to dance another week.

**


	9. Week 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Emma and Killian dance to in this chapter is Too Close by Alex Clare. Their dance is based off of [Meryl Davis and Valentin Chmerkovskiy's Argentine Tango](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5wPTQnxDpus) to the same song. The song Regina and Robin dance to is Girl Crush by Little Big Town. Their dance isn't based off of anything.

**

**WEEK 5**

******

**I wanna taste her lips, yeah, ‘cause they taste like you**  
**I wanna drown myself in a bottle of her perfume**  
**I want her long blonde hair, I want her magic touch**  
**Yeah, ‘cause maybe then you’d want me just as much**  
**I got a girl crush, I got a girl crush**

******

**And it feels like I am just too close to love you**  
**There's nothing I can really say**  
**I can't lie no more, I can't hide no more**  
**Got to be true to myself**  
**And it feels like I am just too close to love you**  
**So I'll be on my way**

**

Emma is nervous.

Actually, she feels sick to her stomach, which she is pretty sure is not a normal reaction to a celebrity getting a new dance partner. But that is what she's feeling. Because the thought of dancing with anyone else just feels wrong.

Regina is her partner. Regina is the one she trusts. Regina is the one she…

She shakes her head to clear that train of thought from it. Spending all that time together can create feelings that aren't really there. She's heard that enough from other dancers and celebrities who have been rumored to be romantically involved. She's just attracted to Regina – who wouldn't be? – and is allowing the feelings of euphoria from last night to play with her mind.

So maybe switch week is the best thing that could've happened to her. She can work with someone new and get Regina off her mind. She'll see that her feelings are nothing more than the result of the close quarters she's been in with Regina. It's a good thing. Switch Week is a good thing.

But she's still pretty sure she's going to vomit.

**

"Can I turn around now?" Emma asks Leroy, who she is thankful is staying with her for the week and not going with Regina. It's a comfort to have the sometimes grumpy camera man still with her.

"Aye." A voice says behind her and Emma turns with a gasp.

Standing before her is Killian Jones. Her new partner for the week is Killian Jones.

"Hello, Swan." He grins at her. Emma just stares with her mouth hanging open. It's as bad as her first meeting with Regina had been.

"I – you – you're a man!"

"That I am, love. Thanks for noticing."

  
Emma bursts out into laughter then, although it's slightly bordering on hysterical. "I'm sorry." She gasps. "I just – I wasn't expecting – I thought –"

"You thought you'd still be with a female professional." Killian fills in for her.

Emma nods. She'd spent a good portion of last night not sleeping and instead going through options in her head. She'd decided that Zelena would probably be her first choice of a new partner since she was Regina's sister and there would be a bit of familiarity there. But never had she even considered that her switch partner would be a man.

"I'm sorry." She says then, moving forward to hug Killian. She really does like the guy, from the bit that they've gotten to hang out at after parties and during rehearsals. "I'm so happy that it's you. Honestly."

Killian hugs her back and then pulls back. "Well, I'm very happy it's you too, because we've got an Argentine Tango this week and I've got big plans for you."

**

Killian's routine is intense, both in emotion and in choreography. Emma loves it, but she's also still a bit unsure. Every time she presses her body against Killian, it feels like she's cheating on Regina somehow.

Plus, Killian has choreographed lifts into the routine, something that Emma isn't sure how she feels about. They will look amazing once she gets them right, she's sure, but she's never done lifts before and while she trusts Killian not to drop her, she doesn't feel that connection with him that she does with Regina. It will be a first for her and she kind of wants it to be with Regina.

"Look, love," Killian says at the end of their first long practice, "if you're not sure about the lifts, talk to Regina about them."

"Regina?" Emma questions, trying to keep her voice neutral and failing rather spectacularly.

Killian offers a smile that is understanding yet smug at the same time. "We both know how close you and Regina are. You trust her, so talk to her if you feel uncomfortable. See what she says."

"And if I still don't want to do the lifts after I talk to her?"

"I may have a reputation for being the bad boy of the ballroom, but I won't force you, Swan. I will tell you that I think the routine is better with them in, though."

  
Emma nods and offers a small smile. "Okay. I'll talk to Regina."

**

She decides, as she climbs into the Bug to head back to the apartment, that there's no time like the present to talk to Regina.

She hasn't seen her all day, so she's still not sure who her partner is. She knows that Ruby is paired up with Zelena and Milah is with Sean, as they had all stopped in during their rehearsals to say hi. They'd actually all eaten lunch together and it was a fun time, but Emma had missed Regina. She still misses Regina. Which is another reason that she drives towards Regina's.

As she pulls up the drive, she thinks about how this house, certainly more than the barely lived in apartment here in LA and probably even more than any other place she's ever lived before, actually feels like home. She's so used to spending time here, rehearsing or just sitting around talking. It's become a safe haven for her and Emma hopes that Regina is up for a night of sitting on the porch, drinking wine, and talking about things.

Only when she reaches the door to the house, ready to open it with the spare key that Regina had given her last week, the door opens to reveal Robin Locksley on the other side.

"Emma. Hello." Robin smiles in that sickeningly smug way he has and Emma feels her stomach turn. Regina's switch partner is Robin? And they're practicing at her house instead of the studio? No. This is all wrong.

"Who is it, Robin?" Regina's voice calls out and Emma feels herself perk up. Hopefully Robin is just leaving and Emma will be able to stay with Regina.

But when Regina comes into sight – and when Emma comes into her sight – she does not look happy to see Emma at all. In fact, she looks almost disgusted.

"What are you doing here?" She asks and it's that hissing tone again, from the day with Henry, but Emma doesn't understand what she's done wrong.

"I – I just wanted – Killian said –" Emma hates that she becomes this stuttering mess around Regina. She hates how weak she suddenly feels, like she's a little girl again, begging for her foster parents to love her.

"Ah, so Killian is your switch partner then." Robin cuts in. "Marian is dancing with Jim and I have to admit, I got a little jealous when I found out. Silly, isn't it? But then, I guess you wouldn't really feel that way, would you? I mean, it's different for you two, isn't it?"

Emma bites her tongue and clenches her fist so she doesn't say something she shouldn't or punch him in his face like she wants to.

"Of course it is." Regina says, putting her hand on Robin's shoulder and Emma feels that jealousy that Robin's talking about rear its ugly head. "Now, if you'll excuse us, Emma, we've still got a lot to do and I'm sure you and Killian do too."

Emma wants to protest, wants to demand that Regina talk to her and tell her what the hell is going on, but she feels the rejection that is taking place hit her hard and so she just turns and walks away.

**

"Let's start with the lifts," is Emma's greeting to Killian the next day.

**

"You alright, love?" Killian asks her on Sunday, just before camera blocking.

It's been a long, crazy week and everything feels like it is finally catching up to Emma. She hasn't talked to Regina at all this week and she feels the loss as surely as if someone had come along and ripped her heart out.

Killian is a very different style of teacher from Regina and it's been good for her to work with him, but she also cannot help the constant comparing she does between the two. Or the constant ache that she feels when she thinks of Regina.

It's ridiculous and Emma hates herself for it, because she knows what it means. It means that she doesn't just have a crush on Regina. She actually has full blown feelings for the woman. Probably even loves her. But after this week, she knows that she certainly can't tell her that. She couldn't even if she tried – since Regina isn't answering any of her calls.

But doing this routine with Killian still feels like a betrayal of the relationship she has with Regina. And especially when they add the lifts in.

"I don't think - I can't do the lifts, Killian. I'm sorry." She whispers to him.

Killian just bumps his shoulder against hers. "No worries, Swan. We'll go over it now in blocking and then we'll practice it again a few more times tomorrow. We're still going to dance the sexiest Argentine Tango of the night. Make that partner of yours sit up and take notice, we will."

Emma looks over at him and she knows that he knows. She smiles and lays her head on his shoulder. "Thanks, Killian."

**

Regina and Robin are dancing right before them.

Killian tries to pull her away from the skybox and into the hallway to get in the right headspace, but Emma stays resolutely in the box. She needs to see what is going to happen. Everyone else has been cheering their switched partners on, laughing and having a wonderful time. Even David and Mary Margaret, who look completely miserable to be apart, have had fun with Ashley and Billy tonight. But Emma has been mostly stoic, playing it up for the cameras when she's had to, but silent and almost mopey otherwise.

Lily would've slapped her and told her to snap out of it by now, she's sure, but Lily is down with Henry and cannot see how Emma is depressed and moping. Only Killian – and perhaps Ruby, who is incredibly perceptive – have noticed her behavior.

"Next up, we'll see what it was like for Regina to go from dancing with a woman to dancing with a man. Take a look." Sidney introduces the package and Emma's eyes are glued to the screen.

The package shows their first meeting, how Robin had swept Regina up in a hug that makes Emma see red. It shows Regina talking about the dance they're doing – the Rumba – and then she talks about how glad she is to be dancing with Robin.

It wouldn't be bad – Emma could stomach it, she really could, because everyone's packages all night have been much like this, talking about the excitement of dancing with a new partner – except for the next words out of Regina's mouth.

The producer apparently asks her about the differences between dancing with Emma to dancing with Robin and Regina says, "Oh, it's completely different. I mean, I'm just so loving getting this chance to dance with Robin, because I had actually thought that maybe he would be my partner from the beginning. So it's kind of fun to have that dream realized in a way."

Everything is edited. Emma knows this. She knows how the editors can pick one tiny, insignificant thing, and make it seem like it was the biggest thing of the week. She's seen how they manipulate the footage to make it more dramatic or to show what they want the audience to see – a fight where there might not have really been one or a breakdown that didn't actually happen. Emma knows all of this.

But Regina's words still hit her like a freight train. Regina wanted Robin as a partner, not Emma. Regina had always wanted Robin, from the very beginning. Emma feels her breathing quicken and is pretty sure that she just may hyperventilate.

Down below on the dance floor, Regina and Robin start to move in a slow Rumba, their bodies pressed together. Emma closes her eyes tightly, unable to stand the sight.

She feels a hand on her arm then, leading her away.

"Hey. Swan. Breathe." She opens her eyes to find Killian in front of her, both of them tucked into a small space. There are still cameras around backstage, probably filming her breakdown at this very second, but at least it's not so obvious.

"I'm sorry." She says, still trying to regulate her breathing.

"Nothing to be sorry for." Killian shrugs. "I had fantasies of making Sean walk the plank when I saw his hand on Milah's ass during their dance."

It's just enough to make Emma laugh a bit, which breaks the tension and helps her calm down.

"We've got to go down now." Killian says and she wants to protest, but at least she doesn't hear the music anymore. In fact, she can now hear the judges' comments as they start down to where they'll need to take their places.

"It's so odd to me, because there was a huge disconnect in this dance and I'm not sure where it came from. But the Rumba is supposed to be such a sensual, sexy dance, and I wasn't getting that from you at all, Robin. You were stiff and you didn't look relaxed at all. It wasn't the best for me." Emma hears Lacey say and it makes her smile just a bit.

"Well, you're dancing to a song about having a girl crush and I know the dance was intended to show Regina wanting to be Robin's mistress, but really, darling, I feel like it should've been the other way around, because to me, this seemed like you just wanted to get back to Emma, Regina."

Emma stops for a moment, trying to catch a glimpse of Regina's face, but she can't because she and Robin are already heading for the skybox. Up there, Tina is picking up on the track that Jefferson started them down. "So, Regina, we have Jefferson saying that it looked like you just wanted to get back to Emma. Is that true? Did you both just want to get back to your partners?"

"Of course I missed Marian this week." Robin answers, "But I also know how lucky I am to be dancing with this gorgeous woman. And I don't know why they couldn't see that, because I thought I showed exactly how sexy and wonderful I think Regina is in that dance."

"Regina? Were you missing Emma?" Tina presses and Emma's ears perk up, but Regina expertly dodges the question. "It was a very different experience, going back to dancing with a male, and I think that's what the judges were picking up on. But I don't think I phoned anything in, so…"

They end up getting eights from all the judges, earning them a 32 for the night.

It's as their package is showing, when Emma talks about how different Killian is from Regina and how she does miss Regina even though she's having fun with Killian, that she makes her decision.

"We're doing the lifts." She says resolutely.

"Swan."

"Killian, don't. Just – I can do them."

"I know you can." Killian smirks at her. "I was going to tell you to sex it up and kick some soap boy's ass."

Emma laughs as Killian moves away from her to take his seat on the chair.

 

**

The music starts and Emma begins to dance. The beat is pulsing and she remembers everything Killian taught her this week – sharp, quick, clean movements that are still sexy.

She approaches his chair and he stands, twirling her into hold. They move across the floor, their movements perfectly in sync, his hand hot against the skin of her back. He's sturdy in a way that's so different from Regina, and she allows him to guide her with his strength, while still matching him step for step with the footwork. There are so many kicks with this dance, so many moving parts where they have to come together perfectly and they are.

"Ready?" He mouths to her just before the first lift and she smiles.

Yeah. She is ready.

Killian lifts her and spins her in the air. She falls back against him, her back to his chest, her head back on his shoulders. Her legs move to wrap around his waist as they spin in a circle. Then she turns in his arms, moving so they are chest to chest, her legs around his waist as he dips her back and continues to spin her.

She feels slightly dizzy, but also giddy as the audience erupts into cheers and he pulls her back up, holding her close for a moment. "You're bloody brilliant, Swan." He murmurs before he drops her down into a half split.

They go through a few more moves before he drops down onto one knee and looks up at her. This is the trick she'd been most worried about, but now, she's not sure why. She just moves towards him, bending forwards to grab his leg and flip her body over his shoulder.

When she comes up from the flip, the camera is right there and she knows it catches her sassy look. Take that soap boy. She winks and Killian spins her back to him. They move through more turns and then he spins her out, only to have her fall back into his arms where he lowers her almost to the ground. It's a stretch for her body, but the crowd loves it.

Their foreheads touch as they come up and he winks at her. It's time for the final lift. She gets into her stance, posed with her feet apart in a lunge and Killian reaches between her legs, grabbing her thigh and flipping her completely around before lowering her to the ground for their final pose of the dance.

The audience goes crazy.

They stay in their pose for a few beats while everyone just yells for them. Then Killian helps her up, giving her a hug in the process.

"Emma and Killian!" Sidney calls out as they make their way towards him. "Great job. Come on over. I think all the judges are going to agree. We've got big smiles. Go ahead Gold."

"Well, there was a little bit too much staccato here and there, dearie, but that was the dance of the night." Gold is smiling and Emma can't stop herself from beaming and calling out thank you to him.

Lacey is just as complimentary. "Killian, the choreography was amazing, first of all. It was stunning. And Emma, you are a stunning, beautiful dancer. I was just blown away. This was the best switch of the night."

Jefferson is on his feet, arms waving in the air towards them. "Powerful and seductive. You were two magical instruments perfectly in tune." Emma laughs at that.

"Alright and lastly, let's go to Astrid." Sidney says.

"I'm really impressed with everyone tonight, but to me, you two are in a class of your own. I think you proved tonight, Emma, that you are a contender in this competition. And tonight, you are untouchable."

 

"Thank you." Emma mouths and then squeals when Killian lifts her up and spins her around before they head to the skybox.

When they get there, Tina has Regina and is asking her something, but Emma can't hear what it is or what Regina's answer is for all the cheering from the audience and the shouts from her castmates. They're all cheering her on and Emma basks in it.

Milah runs over to hug both Killian and her. Regina steps back from Tina and then offers a small smile that Emma knows isn't truly genuine. They hug, but it is awkward and uncomfortable and leaves Emma wanting to cry.

"So, Killian," Tina starts her interview, "did you feel added pressure this week, while working with Emma?"

"I don't think there was added pressure, but there definitely was the usual pressure that we're all under in this competition. I wanted to do well by Swan, to live up to the bar that she and Regina set last week with their scores. She's got so much potential and with that comes great responsibility to her partner to push her and have her do well."

"And Emma, in the package we saw you saying how different Killian and Regina are as teachers and dancers. So the question then becomes, who do you like more?"

"Not a fair question!" Emma protests, feeling Regina's eyes boring into her. "It's like apples and oranges. I can like them both. It was a new experience, doing this with a man. So I enjoyed that aspect of it, the learning that happened this week. But you know that I'll always feel more comfortable when I'm with Regina." Emma admits.

"Well, let's get your scores, shall we?"

"Astrid Faye."

"10."

"Robert Gold."

"9."

The audience boos his score, but Emma smiles, leaning into Killian.

"Lacey French."

"10."

"Jefferson Turrant."

"10."

Killian wraps her up in a hug and kisses her forehead before spinning her around again.

"That's a 39 out of 40, the same score Emma got last week." Tina says.

"It's perfect that way." Killian says, his arm still around Emma. "I've lived up to her then."

Emma just smiles for the camera and thinks that this may be the first time in her life that someone has wanted to live up to what she can do.

**

They have to get back with their actual partners for the results. Regina is stiff and closed off as they stand on the stairs beside each other. Everyone else is being affectionate with their new reunited other halves – especially David and Mary Margaret and, Emma notes with something like disdain, Robin and Marian – but Emma feels nothing from Regina.

They're called safe and Emma instinctively hugs Regina, trying hard to think about the fact that Regina doesn't hug her back.

In the end, it's Granny and Billy who have been voted off and everyone feels a huge sense of sadness, except, perhaps for Granny herself. She is just happy she's made it this far in the competition and she's had a great time, but she's ready to go back to baking.

Emma hugs her tightly and enjoys the feeling of what it would be like to have a grandmother for a moment.

**

She's so ready to be done with all of this, to just do the quick interviews and go home. All she wants is to crawl into bed and sleep until things with her and Regina are back to normal.

But the upcoming week is Team Dance Week and they have to pick their teams. She and Regina and David and Mary Margaret have been chosen as the two team captains and it's up to them to pick who they want on their team.

Because they have the highest scores overall, she and Regina get to choose first. She knows that there should be some kind of strategy or discussion happening, but Regina isn't engaging with her except to shoot daggers at Killian, so Emma makes the first choice by herself so that Regina can't call for Robin to join their team.

"Ruby and Peter." Emma says and Ruby rushes over to hug her.

David and Mary Margaret press their heads together and whisper to each other before Mary Margaret finally makes her choice. "Robin and Marian."

Emma's a bit surprised, but also relieved that she doesn’t have to see Robin's stupid face at rehearsal. Before she can even open her mouth to say who the next couple she'd like is, Regina blurts out "Jim and Kathryn."

Emma's actually okay with that, because she likes both Jim and Kathryn, and she knows that Regina and Kathryn are kind of friends.

"Milah and Killian." Mary Margaret calls out. Emma's a little disappointed because Killian is a great choreographer, but she grins as she makes her final selection. "Walsh and Zelena."

Working with Regina's sister ought to be fun.

David and Mary Margaret are left with Ashley and Sean, which will work well if they go for a sickeningly sweet dance, which they probably will.

The teams are given a CD with their song on and told that they have the rehearsal studio until midnight that evening and then will do another full group rehearsal on Friday.

It's not a lot of time and with her partner not even really acknowledging her, Emma wonders how on earth things are going to go.


	10. Week 6

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song Emma and Regina dance to in this chapter is Bad Blood by Taylor Swift. Their dance is based off of [Derek Hough and Anna Trebunskaya's Paso Doble](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=N32KCA6ALek) to Bad Romance by Lady Gaga. The song their team dances to is Uptown Funk by Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars. Their dance isn't based off of anything.

******

**WEEK 6**

******

**Oh, it's so sad to think about the good times, you and I**  
**'Cause, baby, now we got bad blood**  
**You know it used to be mad love**  
**So take a look what you've done**  
**'Cause, baby, now we got bad blood**

******

**Come on, dance**  
**Jump on it**  
**If you sexy then flaunt it**  
**If you freaky then own it**  
**Don't brag about it, come show me**

******

They get to the rehearsal studio at almost nine o'clock. Emma is exhausted both physically and emotionally, but she also knows that she is a team captain and no matter what is going on with her and Regina right now, she needs to help step up and lead this team.

Their song is Uptown Funk and Emma's actually kind of excited about it. It's a popular song, which will work in their favor and there's lots of room for group parts and their individual solos. They're able to dance freestyle, which Emma also appreciates.

The pros all get together right away to start listening to the music and figure out group choreography, which leaves the celebrities to mill around with each other.

"Okay, so, we need a team name." Emma says, because she needs to feel productive.

"We could always go Team Uptown." Walsh offers.

"Or Team Funk." Jim says and Ruby quickly nods along.

"Yes! Team Funk."

"Alright." Emma nods. "I think we've got a team name."

**

They actually get a lot done during the first rehearsal. They've got their name decided upon, plus costuming ideas – red and black are their colors of choice and they're thinking red suits with black shirts and fedoras for the guys and red dresses with black accents for the ladies – thanks to the celebrities and the whole first second of group choreography thanks to the pros.

Emma likes getting to see how everyone works together and she enjoys everyone on her team. But the time comes when everyone has reached their limits for the evening and is readying to go, so they decide to work on individual solos during their regular rehearsals and come back to put it all together on Friday's group rehearsal.

Ruby, Peter, Jim, and Kathryn all head out pretty quickly once that decision has been made, but Zelena grabs Regina and takes her off somewhere. Emma knows that she could – and maybe even should – just leave now, but she ends up staying around.

Walsh offers her a smile. "You were incredible tonight, by the way. And I'm really glad you picked me to be on your team."

"Thanks." Emma nods. "I'm glad you're on my team. I think we're going to be great."

"With you and Regina leading us, I'm sure we will. You guys make a great pair."

Emma's heart aches at those words but she still smiles. "Thanks."

"Alright, my pretty," Zelena says as she sweeps back into the room, hugging Emma and kissing both her cheeks, "we shall see you later. Get some sleep and don't let my sister wear you out."

There's something to Zelena's words, an added tone, but Emma's too tired to figure it out. She just smiles at Zelena and nods. "Bye."

Then Zelena and Walsh are gone and Regina has still not come back. Emma considers just leaving, but finds that she can't. She needs to at least tell Regina she's leaving, so she heads out of the rehearsal space and starts searching for her.

She isn't in the kitchen or in any of the other dance spaces, so Emma heads for the bathroom. Before she's even the whole way into the door, hands are grabbing her arm and dragging her in, then throwing her across the room.

"What the hell are you doing?" Emma shouts as she collides with the wall.

"Me?" Regina asks, fire burning in her eyes. "What the hell am I doing? What the hell were you doing tonight?"

"Are you kidding me?" Emma spits, her anger suddenly boiling over. "Are you fucking kidding me, Regina? I was _dancing_. What I came on this show to do! What were you doing? Oh, that's right – you were living your goddamn dream with Robin!"

"Don't you throw that back in my face," Regina stalks closer and there's a warning in her voice. "Not when you're out there doing lifts with Killian."

  
Emma laughs, and it's a bitter sound. "That's what this is about? That I did lifts with Killian? So what, you're allowed to do whatever you want with your new partner, but I can't?"

"You practically fucked him on the dance floor!" Regina shouts.

The tears that she's been fighting all night rise up in Emma's eyes and she shakes her head. "You know what, Regina? I'm not doing this. Not tonight."

She goes to move past her and out of the room, but Regina blocks her path. "No. You don't get to run away. Not until you tell me why."

"Why?" Emma says incredulously. "Why I did lifts with him? What does it matter?"

"You told me you didn't want to do lifts." Regina tosses right back. She'd wanted to do lifts with Emma a few times, but Emma had said no. "But suddenly with Killian –"

"Killian is a man. He's stronger than you. I knew I wouldn't hurt him if we did a lift. That's all it was." Emma moves into Regina's space, until they're just inches apart. "And just so you know, I wasn't sure about the lifts. I wanted to ask you what you thought so I came to you. But you were too busy with Robin doing god knows what at your house and looking at me like I was dirt on the bottom of your shoe that I never got the chance."

"You showed up at my home at nine o'clock at night. How was I supposed to explain that to Robin?"

Emma blinks. "What did you have to explain? I'm your partner. I was coming to talk to you. You didn't have to explain anything. You didn't owe him anything."

"And I owed you?"

"I'm your partner! Or at least I was, until you got to work with your dream partner."

"Oh don't do that." Regina scoffs.

"Do what?" Emma demands.

  
"Play the foster child card. I'm not your parents, Emma. I'm not going to send you away just because something better came along!"

 _Just because something better came along._ The words hit her with the force of a physical blow and Emma feels her legs give out on her. She falls back against the wall, starting to slide down it before she steels herself. She will not crumble in front of Regina. She will not give her the satisfaction.

She doesn't know who it is she's seeing in front of her right now, but it's not her partner, the Queen of the Ballroom. This is more like the Evil Queen.

"Well," She manages, her voice shaking just a bit as she stands up tall, "you don't have to worry about that, because I'm done. You can have your something better."

And with that, she pushes past Regina and walks out the door.

**

There's a CD by Regina's things when she grabs her own bag. It catches her eye in her haste to leave and when she registers what it says, Emma starts to laugh out loud.

Their individual song for the week is Bad Blood by Taylor Swift.

Emma laughs the whole way to her Bug.

Then she cries the whole way back to her apartment.

**

Lily isn't there when Emma gets home and she doesn't know where to be glad or upset about that.

On one hand, she won't see her totally breaking down over the dance partner that Lily had once teased her about falling in love with. On the other, Emma could really use a shoulder to cry on right about now.

She's just about to fall into bed, smudged makeup and all, when the pounding on her door starts. "Emma! Open up! Now!"

Emma's heart jumps to her throat when she hears Regina's voice and she considers for just a second not even opening the door. But the banging persists and Emma doesn't want her neighbors calling the cops. That's all she needs right now.

So Emma opens the door.

Regina has her turned around and slammed against the door in five seconds flat.

"You," She says, right in Emma's face, "do not get to walk away. You are not leaving me!"

And Emma wants to say something – goes to say something – but then, she's stopped by Regina's lips against her own.

For a minute, she thinks this is all a dream or a hallucination. But then Regina moves against her, pushing against her tighter, and Emma knows that it's real. It's more real than any of the other times Regina's body has been against her.

"Regina." She rasps out when Regina pulls away, trying to search her eyes. Regina just shakes her head and kisses her again, a kiss that is needy but passionate. Emma clings to her, getting lost in the kiss.

And then they're moving. They're moving together and it's almost like a dance that Regina has choreographed, they're so in sync with each other. They make it to her bedroom and their clothes fall away and then it's just them, just them and this dance that their bodies are doing.

It's fluid and sensual and sharp and powerful all at once.

If there were judges there to score them, it would be a perfect ten.

**

"I panicked." Regina says later, her voice cutting through the silence that has settled over the room. She's wrapped around Emma, her head resting on Emma's chest. Emma prepares herself for the blow that she's sure is about to come.

"I saw you at my door and I just panicked. I didn't know what Robin would think. And I shouldn't care. I don't care. But I just – I don't know." Regina admits. "I don't know what's going on. I'm not – I've never – but with you –"

Emma presses a soft kiss to her forehead and shushes her. "It's okay."

"It's not." Regina whispers. "I care about you, Emma. And I'm sorry that I hurt you."

Emma doesn't tell her it's okay this time, because it's not. She'll forgive her – she'll forgive her anything – but she won't say that it's okay.

"The package was bullshit. I don't even remember saying that. And I never wanted to dance with Robin. The only reason I came back to the show was because of you. There isn't someone better."

Emma lets those words wash over her, lets them sink into her skin and work towards mending the gashes in her heart.

Regina kisses her, then sits up, the sheets pooling at her waist. "I want to keep dancing with you, Emma. I want to win the mirror ball with you."

Emma does smile then, sitting up to meet her. "I want that too."

Regina nods and looks down, entwining their fingers together and then looking up at Emma. Before she ever speaks, Emma knows what she's going to say. "We can't do this again. I don't regret it. We're both adults and – I need you to understand how I feel. But I'm not – we can't do it again."

And Emma is in love with Regina Mills. One hundred percent. So she just nods and acts like she agrees, because she'd do anything to make Regina happy.

**

The paso doble, which is their dance style this week, works best when there is a tension between the two dancers. Based on bullfighters going into the ring, it's a dance that should show power with a hint of aggression.

It fits their moods this week perfectly.

Although they haven't spoken any more about what happened – either with their switch partners or with each other the night before – things feel resolved to Emma. She feels like she has her Regina back, which is really all that she wanted.

Still, it's very easy to call upon all her frustration and anger to bring to this dance. She wonders just how much the producers know about what's happening behind the scenes.

**

Regina choreographs two lifts into the routine.

They're rather simple, compared to the ones that Emma did with Killian. All Emma has to do is kick her leg up straight and the hook it over Regina's arm while they're in hold. Then Regina lifts her up and spins them around before putting her back down. The second one is an easy spin out lift where Emma's feet barely come off the ground.

Still, Emma is delighted and practices them with her over and over until she feels like they're perfect.

She also films a clip of them doing the first lift in practice and tweets it out with the caption '@ReginaMills is sweeping me off my feet'.

**

On Thursday, Emma convinces Regina to do a Dubsmash with her.

She tries to get her to do the lift scene from Dirty Dancing, just to show Regina who she'd really like to do lifts with, but Regina refuses. Instead, they end up doing the 'Spaghetti Arms' scene, with Regina playing Johnny.

Emma sends out a tweet with the video attached to this caption:

@EmmaSwan You gotta hold the frame.

**

On Friday, they have their second group dance rehearsal and Emma is able to enjoy it much more than the first one.

The pros go through the choreography with them, changing things as they need, until it's a tight dance. Everyone's individual solos look great and fit them and the music. It's upbeat and fun and Emma thinks that they will definitely win the competition. She doesn’t see how Mary Margaret's team could top this.

There's a lot of laughter as they work through everything and Emma is pleased to see that Regina and Zelena seem to be getting along better than they had on Friday. It's so interesting to watch them together and see their dynamic. While Regina says that they aren't close, Emma can see a desire to be in both of them.

After they've finished rehearsing, Emma insists on a group shot of all of them to tweet out. They've gotten permission to tease the song and the group name, so Emma sends out the picture with the text saying '#TeamFunk is ready to funk you up'.

**

Dress rehearsal goes badly when it comes to their paso.

She and Regina were both planning on wearing the long flowing skirts to use in the dance, but it quickly becomes apparent when they've got them on for the first time that it isn't going to work. They get too tangled together, so Regina's skirt has to go. She ends up in tight black leather pants and a black bikini-like top that is similar to Emma's top.

Emma isn't sad to see the skirt go. Not if it means she gets to see Regina's ass in those pants.

**

"Hey." Emma grabs Regina's arm and pulls her into the bathroom – the only place without cameras and sound equipment – before they head down to the dance floor.

"Emma, we have to get down there." Regina protests.

"You always tell me not to watch the package. I'm not watching the package." Emma grins at her.

Regina rolls her eyes. "Idiot." She whispers affectionately.

Emma pulls her close. "I just wanted to say that I'm really glad that I'm dancing with you tonight. And for the rest of – well, the rest of my time here."

Regina smiles genuinely then. "I'm glad too."

Emma leans forward and presses their lips together.

"Emma." Regina says, sounding a bit reprimanding.

"I know. I know. But I just had to." She winks and then steps out of the bathroom, heading for the dance floor.

**

The paso goes perfectly. (Or almost perfectly, according to Gold.)

Emma feels it as they move through the dance – this is the perfect show of their relationship. It's the push and pull that they go through as they dance. There's a struggle and an intensity to it and Emma loves it. Everything feels right when she dances with Regina like this. Everything clicks into place.

The audience goes absolutely wild when they finish and Emma laughs as Regina pulls her into a hug before they walk over to the judges.

"Regina, darling, you are back where you belong!" Jefferson gushes. "You two were perfectly in sync, you showed the passion and the intensity of the paso and it was brilliant!"

"I could feel everything that you were going through in this dance tonight – the frustration, the anger, the love. You went through every emotion and conveyed it perfectly. I believed that you were in the middle of a fight in your relationship. It may be Bad Blood, but this was a great dance!" Astrid exclaims.

"I liked the passion and the drama of it. I think you could've had a few more traditional paso doble elements to it, but I appreciate what you were doing. Overall, though, I liked it." Gold tells them, to the boos of the audience.

"They say absence makes the heart grow fonder and I think in this case, absence makes the dancing better. I agree with Jefferson, Regina, seeing you this week, it is obvious that you belong with Emma on this dance floor. You two are a force to be reckoned with." Lacey finishes.

They earn 39 points once again – and damn it, Emma will get a ten from Gold if it kills her – and quickly rush off to change into their team dance costumes.

**

"You ready, captain?" Jim asks as they take their places back stage. Emma laughs at him as she leans over to adjust his tie.

"Of course. We've got this in the bag."

  
Mary Margaret's team – Team Sweethearts, and wasn't that just gag worthy? How on earth did Killian ever agree to that? – had done their freestyle to I Really Like You by Carly Rae Jepson and it had been good, but far too sugary sweet for Emma's tastes. The judges had given them all nines and Emma feels confident that they can beat them.

"She's right you know." Zelena smirks. "We could beat those goody two-shoes with our eyes closed."

"Just don't get too cocky, sister dear." Regina reminds her.

"Let's go funk this place up, shall we?" Ruby says as their team is introduced and the music starts.

**

They absolutely kill it.

The audience is on their feet, clapping to the beat and cheering the entire time. They are all perfectly together and all of them are having a blast. The group sections are tight and the solos are all awesomely done to show off their different skills. At the end, they've thrown in old school dances like the sprinkler and the lawn mower and it's just so much fun. Emma loves every second of the dance and getting to do it with these people.

The judges must feel what Emma is feeling, because they're all complimentary – even Gold. And in the end, they walk away with a 39 out of 40 (damn it, Gold) to take the win.

Emma can't help but feel gleeful that they've beaten Robin, and based on the look on Regina's face, she feels the same way about Killian. It really is the best possible outcome for both of them.

The outcome for Walsh, though, isn't the best possible one. He gets voted off at the end of the night.

It's getting hard to lose people now that relationships are forming. Emma's just glad that she doesn't have to lose Regina yet.


	11. Week 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The songs they dance to in this chapter are Dark Horse by Katy Perry and Say Something by Pentatonix. Their first dance is based off of [James Maslow and Cheryl Burke's Tango](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w74yGaQJQbU) to Dark Horse. Their second dance is based off of [Jennifer Grey and Derek Hough's Rumba](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GABO66Dkz1Q) to Waiting For A Girl Like You by Foreigner.

**

**WEEK 7**

******

**Are you ready for, ready for**  
**A perfect storm, perfect storm**  
**Cause once you’re mine, once you’re mine**  
**There’s no going back**

******

**And I will stumble and fall**  
**I'm still learning to love**  
**Just starting to crawl**

******

 

It's America's Choice week, which means everything – and they really do mean _everything_ – is in America's hands for the first of their dances.

"So, today we'll tell you the song and dance style that the audience voted on for you and then you'll need to open it up to find out a concept and costuming ideas. We'd like you to make a video asking for America's help with those things. Then we can go through and pick out one that you like." Sarah explains to them on Tuesday morning.

"Alright. What is our song and dance style?" Regina's mind is already working.

"You've got a tango to Katy Perry's Dark Horse." Sarah tells them.

"Cool." Emma grins. "I like that song."

"Good. Then I'll leave you two to get to work."

Emma's already got her phone out, set up to record.

"Hey, America!" Emma waves at the camera and Regina offers up a small wave of her own. "It's America's Choice Week, so that means that you guys get to call the shots for one of the dances that Regina and I do. So far, we know that you've picked for us to do a tango to Dark Horse by Katy Perry. But now we need some ideas for a concept."

Regina takes over then. "So we'd like your input on what concept and costumes you'd like to see. We'll look them over and pick a favorite."

They end the video and send it out and replies begin filtering in almost immediately. Emma wants to sit and watch them, but Regina is ready to get to work.

"We need to start work on our second dance, Emma. We'll deal with this in a little while."

Emma puts the phone down and stands up. "Okay. So we've got a tango. What else do we have?"

Regina looks down for a moment before she looks back up at Emma. "A rumba."

A rumba. Emma's eyes close for a minute. That's the dance that Regina had done with Robin. She shakes her head and smiles at Regina.

"Okay. So it's supposed to be pretty sexual right?" Emma asks, trying not to think about Robin's hands on Regina's body.

"It's supposed to be sensual." Regina corrects. "It's not about being raunchy, it's about the connection between people. Many people consider it to be very sexy, but at its heart, it's sensual. Intimate."

"Okay." Emma nods, moving closer to Regina. "I can do that."

Regina's eyes rake over her body before meeting her eyes again. "I know you can."

**

If Emma thought practicing for the samba was bad, practicing for the rumba is worse. They're even closer and now Emma knows what it's like to actually be with Regina, so everything is just heightened. More than once, Emma thinks about saying screw it all and just throwing Regina to the floor, cameras be damned. But she refrains. Just barely.

Regina has her doing a deep split and a balancing extension in their rumba and they're both very difficult. They both require a huge amount of flexibility on Emma's part, but also a huge amount of trust in Regina, that she won't let her fall.

Emma's completely certain that Regina won't let her fall in the dance. It's just too bad that Emma's already fallen for Regina when it comes to her emotions.

It also doesn't help matters than their song is saying what Emma wishes she could say to Regina.

_I'll be the one if you want me to._

So she's glad when Regina calls it quits on the rumba practice to go check out the ideas that have been coming in from America.

Emma pulls up her Twitter feed and begins to go through the notifications.

"Cowboys," Emma reads the first one, her nose scrunching up just a bit.

"No." Regina shakes her head.

"Futuristic."

"No." Regina says again, looking at her own feed. "Ah, here we go – we want to see Emma lead a dance."

"Me? Lead?" Emma bites her lip. "Do you think I could?"

"You can be quite demanding when you want to." Regina says, the innuendo not lost of Emma.

She looks back down at her phone so she won't take the bait. "Egyptian theme. That's a direct rip off of the music video. I don't think so."

Regina sighs, not at all pleased with any of the options she's seeing. But then, Emma gasps. "This is it!" Emma reads the tweet aloud to Regina, "A play on your titles. Regina is a queen and Emma is her savior – her white knight."

Regina mulls it over for a moment before a slow smile spreads over her face. "Now that, we could work with."

"It would be perfect. Team Swan Queen actually doing a dance where you're a queen. It's awesome. Let's do it!"

**

"You have to be the one who is in control," Regina tells her for about the hundredth time that night, when they're back at her house, sitting on the back deck and drinking wine. Emma is content and relaxed and really doesn't want to think about their dances right now. She just wants to enjoy this time with Regina. But Regina is all about the dances, as she's been talking about them all night.

"You need to move me. I will follow, but you have to hold me steady and show me where to go."

And she knows she shouldn't – she knows it will only make the slippery slope she's going down even more treacherous – but she can't help it. She puts down her wineglass and stands up, grabbing Regina's hand and pulling her up from her chair, flush against Emma's body. "I need to move you, huh?"

There's a small gasp that escapes Regina's mouth as their bodies collide. Then her eyes go just a bit darker and she nods slowly.

"I have to hold you steady," Emma slides her other hand down Regina's back until it rests against her ass – and then squeezes. "And show you where to go."

"Emma." She thinks that maybe it's supposed to be a plea, but she can't tell what it's for – to stop or keep going.

  
Emma decides she's going to keep going. She steps forward and Regina automatically steps back, through the door into the house. "Is this what you mean, Regina?" She whispers into her ear as she continues to move them deeper into the house, towards the living room with the sofa or the stairs that lead to Regina's bedroom, whichever they come to first.

There's a long moment where Regina says nothing and Emma prepares to let her go and walk away to a cold shower and more feelings of rejection.

And then Regina's leg comes up to wrap around her waist.

"Yes."

And that's all that Emma needs.

**

"I think I'm in trouble, Lily." Emma says as she flops down onto the couch beside Lily when she gets back to the apartment that night, thinking of all the times she's done exactly that in Boston. Boston, her home, the place she will be returning to without Regina as soon as her time on the show is over. She sighs.

"What? Why?" Lily looks at her, concern etched on her face.

"I think I'm in love with Regina." Emma says.

"Oh, Emma." Lily sighs, rolling her eyes. She'd warned her.

"Actually, I know I'm in love with her." She admits for the first time. "And I know she doesn't love me back." Emma whispers, thinking of how Regina had said once again that they couldn't do this anymore once she'd come back down from the spectacular orgasm Emma had given her. That this was just an infatuation due to all the time that they were spending together. That Regina still loved Daniel and always would .

"Oh, Emma." Lily says again, pulling her into a hug this time.

She doesn't offer anything else, no platitudes or I told you so's. She doesn't offer any advice either. They just sit together on the couch while Emma thinks about everything, the words from their rumba playing over and over in her mind as she thinks about what will happen when the show is over.

_You're the one that I love and I'm saying goodbye_

**

"We want a Swan Queen kiss!" Emma reads the tweet with wide eyes. But it isn't just one tweet – it's a bunch of them. Apparently, there's a whole faction of fans out there who want something to be going on with her and Regina.

"Excuse me?" Regina says from where she's just entering the rehearsal space.

Emma holds up the phone. "America's choice – people are saying they want us to kiss."

"Emma –" Regina says and there's reproach in her voice, like she thinks Emma is making this up just to toy with her.

"Look." Emma thrusts the phone forward. "I'm just reading what people are saying."

"Well," Regina says after she's read the tweets, "that isn't going to happen. Obviously."

"Obviously." Emma nods, avoiding meeting Regina's eyes.

She's in love with Regina and Regina isn't in love with her. So Emma has to focus on the only thing she can have with Regina – dancing.

"So, should we run the tango again?"

**

Emma's costume for the tango is a white suit with gold trim up the sides of the pants and along the edges of the shirt. It's the first time she's gotten to wear pants to dance, along with flat shoes, and she's pretty excited about it.

Regina's costume for the tango is a gold dance leotard with a built in long train to make it appear like a dress. It's studded with rubies around the healthy amount of cleavage it reveals and it shows off Regina's legs beautifully. Emma is very excited about it.

Emma has never loved America more, she decides.

**

Emma watches as Ruby and Peter get their scores for their Argentine Tango – a 38 from the judges – and sees how Peter spins Ruby around and then kisses her quickly on the mouth. It's so easy between them, so easy for them to touch each other, to kiss each other, that Emma almost hates them for it. But she doesn't. At least not as much as she hates America's Sweethearts – Mary Margaret and David – for all their lovey dovey action.

Emma also wants to ask Ruby how she can do it. How she could have sex with Peter once and then be so at ease with him, without wanting him again and again and again. But then, Emma supposes, that Ruby isn't in love with Peter.

Emma isn't a stranger to one night stands or relationships with no strings attached. If this thing with Regina could've just been that, Emma would've been fine. But instead, she'd gone and fallen in love with the Queen of the Ballroom who was only going to break her heart.

"You okay, Ems?" Ruby asks her once they cut to commercial and Emma offers up a smile at her.

"Of course. Just nervous."

"Don't be." Ruby smiles. "We all know you and your queen are gonna kill it tonight."

Emma closes her eyes and wishes that Regina really was her queen.

**

The tango is intense.

It was intense in the rehearsals, but for some reason, it's even more intense doing it live.

There's an energy in the ballroom that hasn't been there before. It feels like a live wire, ready to spark at any time. Emma goes with the electricity, moves with the charges, her eyes on Regina the entire time.

She holds tightly to Regina, leading her through the steps, keeping her frame strong. She spins her and pulls her back, keeping control just as Regina had told her. She feels powerful.

As the dance is ending, Regina breaks free from her grasp and runs back up the stairs in the ballroom to her throne. Emma chases after and Regina turns, her hands coming to Emma's face.

 _This isn't what we practiced_ is all Emma can think as Regina leans forward, still holding her face, and comes close enough that their lips could brush together. They don't, but depending on the camera angle, it could certainly look like they did.

 _There's no going back_ filters through Emma's ears as Regina pushes her away in the last beats of the song, taking her seat on her velvet throne. Emma stumbles but manages to kneel down on one knee in deference as the audience begins to cheer.

Regina's face is unreadable for a moment but then she stands, smiling for the cameras as she helps Emma up from her kneeling position and over towards Sidney and the judges.

"To me, Emma, you are the total package. You have passion and dedication and technique. And when it all comes together, like it did for this dance, it's a winning combination." Astrid starts them off.

"Well, you know. Dance is like fire. Some should warm and some should burn and this tango was burning hot. You came out with great attack. There were a few moments where it seemed a bit too fast for me, bordering on a little manic, but overall, it was hot." Gold tells them. Emma knows they won't be getting a ten from him, but she still smiles at the compliments.

"Emma!" Lacey calls out to her. "What I was so excited to see tonight was you taking the lead on this tango. I know from the package that the viewers had something to do with that and I think for this, it was the perfect choice. And as Gold said, that was smoking hot! Fantastic!"

"What I really loved here was the game play between you." Jefferson grins in that way he has that seems slightly unhinged. "We had Emma the white knight and Regina the… evil queen, perhaps tonight, darling? But we got to see the push and pull between you two and you delivered a mean tango. Well done."

"Sounds like you should be getting some pretty great scores, you two. Why don't you head on up to the skybox to wait and find out?" Sidney tells them.

Tina is there with questions ready. "Regina, we know that you are kind of a control freak when it comes to your dances. So, how different and difficult was it, having America have so much control tonight?"

"It was different because I do like to have control over what we're doing, but I think that having the viewers get involved was a great idea this week. They really pushed me to think about this tango in a much different way, and I'm grateful for that."

"And Emma, I've gotta ask," Tina leans closer, "was that a kiss we saw down on the dance floor?"

Emma feels her throat close and her cheeks heat up, but she knows that she has to answer the question just as though it were any other questions. "Well, some people on Twitter did want a kiss so…" She smiles at the camera.

"The judges have their scores." She's saved by the announcer.

Their tango earns them a 39 yet again.

Emma begins to wonder if they'll ever get that elusive 40.

**

"Are you ready?" Regina asks and there's just the slightest undertone of nervousness in her voice. Emma doesn't think anyone else would notice it, but she does. She's got her theories as to why Regina is nervous about the Rumba, of course, but she won't bring them up now.

Instead she just smiles at Regina. "Yeah."

They're back to their usual roles – Regina in black dress pants and a white button up shirt taking the lead and Emma in a dance outfit that is skimpy yet still somehow classy. It's got a long skirt that is cut on each side so there is a panel at the front and a panel at the back. There's also a drape that comes down from her right shoulder to her left hip. It's Emma's turn to show off her legs, especially with this routine.

"Alright." Regina nods.

Emma grabs her hand. "Hey." She squeezes it with a smile. "We've got this. We've just got to enjoy it."

Regina nods once and then moves away before Emma can kiss her.

**

The music begins, the house band's female singer singing the lead vocals.

Regina moves behind Emma and pulls her back flush against her. Emma's hand comes up to splay over her hand, holding for a moment. Then they begin the turns and extensions of the rumba, out and back in, away and close together.

Emma moves into the split in perfect timing with _I'm feeling so small_ and the audience gasps as they see how far down she is going. She keeps her eyes locked on Regina's as she sinks down. Regina's hand is firm on her bare back as she supports her on the way down and then on the way back up.

They come back up and move into more turns before it comes time for the leg extension. Regina sinks back and down in a backwards lunge, while Emma kicks her foot straight up in the air, until it can rest on Regina's shoulder. Regina holds her hands out while Emma leans forward so that she's diagonal with the floor and then carefully lets go of Emma's hands once she's balance.

Emma stays there, suspended in time for a moment before Regina moves back up and Emma's foot drops down while her whole body spins into Regina's in a dip. Then they're back up, moving once again in slow, sensual twists and turns until the final notes of the song begin.

Emma moves forward then, her arms wrapping around Regina's neck as Regina leans back, holding her. Their faces are close together again, their lips nearly brushing and Emma can feel Regina's breath as the song finally fades out and they just hold the pose.

"Emma and Regina!" Sidney's voice breaks through the haze that Emma finds herself in and she carefully stands back up with some help from Regina. "Just beautiful, ladies. Let's go to our judges and see what they think."

Jefferson is up on his feet, arms flailing through the air as he shouts out his praises to them. "This was just breathtaking. Sensual, sexy, classy. That off balance in extension was absolutely superb. Flawless! Flawless! And exactly what I'd expect from a rumba from you, Regina. Flawless!"

"Astrid?" Sidney prompts when the clapping of the audience is too loud for her to speak over.

"Jefferson's right. When you hit that extension and that balance and then to go into that dip on the stumble and fall lyric was just brilliant. That is what's beautiful and what makes this special. You capture the moment in that little bit of time and arrange it perfectly. And to me, you are so beautiful tonight Emma, because we're watching you reclaim, or maybe even for the first time, claim your power. And it's beautiful to watch." Emma's hand comes up to her heart and she nods at Astrid, mouthing 'thank you' to her.

"Let's go to our head judge, Robert Gold."

"You know, what I love about dancing is the variations. The speed and then quiet. The soft, the hard, the big, the small, the fast, the slow. That's what makes great dancing and that's what we've just seen. Wonderful job, dearies." Gold actually smiles at them and Emma feels like maybe, just maybe, they've finally achieved what she's been aiming for. Maybe they'll finally get a ten from Gold.

"And Lacey French."

"I agree with everyone so far and I just have to say, first to you, Emma, that seeing you tonight has been a revelation of sorts for me. Because we've seen that you can dance. But tonight, you showed us that you can really _dance._ Watching you go from leading Regina in that tango with such ease to now coming back to her leading in this rumba but you being right there with her and you hitting that extension. Astrid talking about power is right – tonight you were powerful. And Regina, when you did the rumba with Robin, I talked about that disconnect I felt between you two. But here, tonight with Emma, I felt like you two could not have been any more connected. It was perfection. Truly."

"Congratulations." Sidney says as he hugs them both before they head for the skybox.

"You were fantastic." Regina says as they begin to climb the stairs up to the skybox. Emma beams.

"Look at you two!" Tina exclaims as she moves in to hug them both. "Tonight, we've seen a sexy tango and an intimate rumba from you. I know you joked a little early about America wanting you two to kiss, but tonight in these dances it was very sensual between you two. Is that at all difficult or strange for either of you? I mean, obviously Regina you're not –"

"I'm dancing with my partner." Regina cuts her off and Emma's glad, because she doesn't think she could stand to hear the rest of that sentence. It isn't as though Emma doesn't already know that Regina isn't a lesbian, that whatever has already happened between them was more than likely some kind of experimentation or something on Regina's part. But Emma doesn't need to hear it again. Not when she's been feeling so good tonight. "Emma and I are no different than any of the other dancers on the show. We are dancing and we are showing the mood of the dance. I know that there are a lot of people out there who are looking for representation and if they get to see us dancing together, being intimate with each other, and that helps them, then I'm happy. I care deeply about Emma and I'm honored to dance with her. So no, it isn't difficult or strange. It's easy and natural and that's the way it should be."

Emma wants to burst out into applause. She also wants to grab Regina and kiss her right there on national television. But she manages to control herself and only smile.

"Alright, let's get your scores." Tina says, sounding thoroughly chastised.

"Astrid Faye."

"It was perfect. 10!"

"Robert Gold."

"You got gold tonight, dearies. 10!"

Emma yelps and jumps onto Regina, hugging her tightly, so pleased to have finally gotten the coveted ten from Gold.

"Lacey French."

"10!"

"Jefferson Tarrant."

"It's a 10!"

Regina lets out her own yelp then, grabbing Emma and spinning her around.

"That's 40 out of 40. Our first perfect score of the season goes to Emma and Regina!"

The skybox is full of chatter as everyone rushes over to hug them and congratulate them.

"Remember," Tina chirps, trying to speak over the din, "we have a double elimination coming up next week. No one is completely safe. They need your votes to help get them through to the semi-finals. So vote, vote, vote!"

Any other time, Emma would've been worried about the results coming up or the double elimination the following week. But right now, she's too happy to care.

Even when Ashley gets eliminated at the end of the show, she finds she can't quite stop smiling.

She was perfect.

She and Regina were perfect.


	12. Week 8

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Their trio song is 9 to 5 by Dolly Parton and the dance marathon song is I Know You Want Me by Pitbull. Neither of their dances are based off of anything.

******

**WEEK 8**

******

**You're in the same boat with a lot of your friends**   
**Waitin' for the day your ship'll come in**   
**And the tide's gonna turn**   
**And it's all gonna roll your way**

******

**I know you want me (want me)**   
**You know I want you (want you)**

******

It's Trios Week, so directly after the show ends, the remaining couples have to pick the troupe member or previously eliminated pro that will be joining them for a dance.

"We should talk strategy." Regina says as they're moving back up to the skybox where they'll be doing the picking.

Emma looks at her with a smirk. "I already know who I want."

"Emma, it isn't just about you. It's about me too. I have to be able to work with this person. We need to discuss this."

Emma just grins. "Relax. I've got this."

"Emma!"

"Emma and Regina, since you two have the highest combined score of the season so far, you'll get to pick first." Sarah says, pointing to the board where the headshots of the troupe members and pros that they can pick from are hanging. Emma's eyes catch on the headshot she wants and she smiles.

"Zelena." She says and feels Regina's fingernails bite into her upper arm.

"Are you crazy?" Regina hisses in her ear.

Sarah looks at Emma for a long moment. "That will be three women in one dance. Are you sure you don't want to pick a male professional?"

Even though the nails are still biting into her skin, Emma can feel Regina bristle next to her at the thought that Sarah was making it seem like they needed to dance with a man."

"We're sure. We want Zelena." Emma confirms, raising her eyebrow and daring Sarah to say anything else.

"Alright." Sarah smiles, moving Zelena's picture over next to Emma and Regina's name. "Mary Margaret and David, you're up next."

"I'm going to kill you." Regina says into her ear. Emma just smiles at her.

**

"I cannot believe you chose my sister as our third person!" Regina huffs.

"Don't sound so excited, sis." Zelena says as she enters the room.

"It's gonna be great." Emma enthuses. "I've already got an idea."

" _You've_ got an idea?" Regina's eyebrows go up.

"I have ideas, Regina."

Zelena chuckles as she watches them. "Oh, you two are just so adorable."

"Shut up, Zelena." Regina snaps. "Alright, Emma, what's your idea?"

"Well you told me we're doing the quickstep to 9 to 5, right?"

"Yes." Regina confirms.

"Have you ever seen the movie? It's about three woman who band together to get rid of their awful boss. It couldn't be more perfect for us! The three of us can play the three of them!"

"And who, pray tell, would I be?"

"You're the sassy brunette leader." Emma grins. "You're obviously Violet."

Regina seems to think this over for a moment before she nods.

"And being the blonde one, I'm obviously Doralee, so Zelena that makes you –"

"Do I look like Judy Bernly to you?" Zelena huffs, looking and sounding so much like Regina that Emma has to almost do a double take.

"Come on, Zelena, it's perfect." Emma bats her eyes to try her charms on this Mills sister.

"It actually really is." Regina says, still sounding half surprised.

Zelena pouts, but begrudgingly admits that it is a good concept.

"Well, if we're going to do this, then we need to get to work. Now."

**

"Maybe this wasn't a good idea." Emma sighs as she sits down on the rehearsal steps, feeling a bit defeated. Their first rehearsal isn't going well. Quickstep is difficult with two people, let alone a third.

"It was a good idea. We just have to make it work with the hold and the footwork." Regina insists. "It's a lot, but you can do it. We can do it."

Emma looks at her and offers a nod, then looks at Zelena.

"Of course we can do it." Zelena offers. "But I think we need a little break right now. Stop worrying about everything. Maybe we should do one of those silly videos you so like to make."

Emma perks up at that. "You want to Dubsmash?"

"Well, why not? Since I'm no longer on Team Wild and Wicked, I might as well join Team Swan Queen."

"Awesome!" Emma grins, holding out her phone. "I'll even let you pick what we do."

"Oh, great." Regina rolls her eyes.

They go back to working twenty minutes later, after Emma sends out a tweet with the video of them doing their best Munchkin impression attached.

@EmmaSwan We represent the lollipop guild.

**

"You're in love with my sister."

Emma has just taken a drink of her water and begins to promptly choke on it, coughing and spluttering as she tries to catch her breath.

"Zelena!" She gasps out. They're back at Regina's house and Regina is just in the kitchen, putting the finishing touches on the dinner that she's cooking for them. She could walk through the door at any minute, which is only one of the reasons that Emma's heart is pounding like a freight train.

"Am I wrong?" Zelena challenges, picking up her glass of wine.

"Regina is in the kitchen and Henry is in the living room." Emma says instead, trying to point out why they cannot be having this conversation right now.

"My nephew adores you." Zelena shrugs. "He'd be over the moon if you and my sister got together."

"Well we're not." Emma says, snapping more than she intended. "We're not together and we're not getting together, so just drop it, Zelena."

Zelena's eyes soften then as she looks at Emma. Her hand reaches out to cover Emma's on the dinner table. "You have to understand… our mother was… not a kind woman."

Emma nods because she's gathered that from the little that Regina has talked about her. Zelena continues. "Because of her neither Regina nor I know how to love very well. And after Daniel… Regina's built walls so high around her heart that I didn't think anyone but Henry could ever get in. But then I see her with you and –"

"Don't." Emma whispers, shaking her head. She can't hear this.

Zelena stops talking and everything goes quiet for a long moment. Then Zelena squeezes her hand. "If nothing else, you have to know that you make her happy. She's enjoying dancing again. So thank you for that."

Emma wants to respond, but there's a lump in her throat that makes it too difficult. She swallows hard when Regina comes back into the room, calling for Henry to come join them.

Still, the lump remains, built up of words like family and dance and trust and happy and hope and pain and _love love love_.

**

"Have you two even thought about the dance marathon?" Zelena asks on Friday when they're on a break. They’ve had a bit of a breakthrough and things have been going very well with their rehearsals for the quickstep, which is all they've been focusing on.

"Is there anything to think about really?" Emma shrugs. "We won't know the song until we start to dance, so we can't really prepare."

"Emma and I will be fine." Regina dismisses Zelena's concerns easily.

"Oh really?" Zelena's eyebrow raises and once again Emma is reminded of just how alike the Mills sisters can be. "You may be dancing for up to four minutes, lifts are permitted, and everyone is going to be trying to take you out, and you think you'll be fine with no practice?"

"Yes. Emma's done very well with the Latin dances. We're very in tune with each other. We'll make it work as we go." Regina says, and Emma tries her best not to think about what that means. "Besides, I'd much rather us focus on getting this quickstep perfected. We're still having trouble with all the kicks and flicks. Break time is over. Back to the dance."

**

They're dancing first, but this time, Emma isn't worried about it. In fact, she's actually rather excited. It had been an intense week of training for this dance and it had taken a lot out of her, but she feels like they finally conquered their issues and have a dance that is everything she wanted it to be.

"Hey, thanks for doing this with us." She says to Zelena as they're taking their places.

"Thank me after we get our scores." Zelena teases.

The familiar clicking of the opening of the song begins and Emma leans over the typewriter they have set up, pretending to be typing. She pulls the paper out of the typewriter once she gets to the end, holding it up in triumph while Zelena and Regina come in from either side.

And then the song kicks into high gear and so does their dance. They move in hold, all three of them perfectly in sync. Emma starts out in the middle, but as they do turns throughout the routine, they rotate who is in the middle so there's never just one person in the spotlight.

On the kicks or foot jumps, the outside two go one way and the middle person goes the other. When they chasse, they move as though they're one person instead of three. It took hours of practice, but it pays off in the end, when the music stops and they all hop up to sit on top of the desk. The audience is on their feet.

"Emma, Regina, and Zelena!" Sidney calls and Emma feels fingers entwine with her own on each side of her as they all get down, Regina and Zelena raising their arms up to hold hers up in victory.

They bow and then walk over together, hands still held, to face the judges.

"Well done, ladies. Let's get some thoughts from the judges, starting with Lacey French."

"First of all, this was just a fun number. The audience loved it, it was light hearted and it was fun. And it could have just been that. But what I loved about it was that you took the time to really make it an outstanding number by having the technique there too. I thought it was wonderful."

"Well, darlings, you can tie me up like your naughty boss anytime." Jefferson leers just the littlest bit at them before he start to laugh. "Really though, it was quirky, it was unexpected, and it was refreshing. Marvelous."

"Astrid, your thoughts?"

"I was a bit nervous when I found out that you'd be doing a trio quickstep because I didn't know how it would play out, but you managed it beautifully. I loved the constant switching, the way that you all got to be in focus. That was wonderful. And as everyone else has said, it was a fun ride to watch you. Excellent."

"You know, I was worried about you, dearie." Gold says as soon as Astrid is finished speaking. "I thought you having another female was a bad decision, because it would make it so obvious who the pro and who the celebrity was. But tonight, you have proved me wrong. You held your own with Regina and Zelena and I couldn't tell the difference. Great, great job." Gold finishes off to more cheers from the crowd.

"So, Zelena," Sidney says as a way to kill time for the judges to score them. They're not going to the skybox because they need to go get changed directly after this segment, so Sidney is keeping them for the after dance interview. "Why haven't we seen you and your sister dance together before? It was wonderful!"

"I think the reason we haven't danced together yet was because we were waiting for the perfect time and the perfect person. And Emma is that person for us. She's probably the only one who can handle us."

Sidney laughs and then looks towards the judges where they have their paddles at the ready.

"Astrid Faye."

"It was campy and fun and I loved it! 10!"

"Robert Gold."

"It's a 10!"

"Lacey French."

"10!"

"Jefferson Tarrant."

"10!"

"That's a 40 out of 40… their second perfect score of the season!"

Emma is engulfed in a group hug, surrounded by the warmth and the press of the Mills sisters' bodies.

She loves every second of it.

**

Zelena pulls her into a hug as she's about to go into the dressing room to get changed. "You did wonderfully, my pretty."

Emma laughs against red hair and then pulls back with a smile. "Thanks, Zelena."

"Don't give up on my sister." Zelena murmurs before moving away to get changed herself.

As if I ever could, Emma thinks as she watches her walk away.

**

"Ready?" Regina asks, holding Emma's hand back stage.

"What's another four minutes when I'm dancing with you?" Emma grins. They had gone back on Saturday and Sunday to do some basic planning and training for the dance marathon. They'd practiced various lifts, but mostly, they were planning on showing technique.

"Charmer." Regina laughs.

"Let's get our couples out here on the floor for our Latin Dance Marathon!" Sidney calls.

"Each couple will be entering their own individual pool of light. They will need to stay within those pools of light until there are only three couples left. Then the floor opens up for those couple to do whatever they'd like." Tina explains. "Our judges will be watching and knocking out couples as they go. Depending on where they place, our couples will earn points to add to their scores. First place 10 points, second place 9 point, and so on down to 5 points for our first eliminated couple."

"So, let's get this party started. Couples, begin dancing!"

The music begins to play and Emma instantly recognizes it as I Know You Want Me by Pitbull. Regina pulls her close as they begin to move together. "Cha-Cha." She whispers to Emma and instantly Emma knows what she means. She begins to do the movements that they did during their cha-cha, moving in and back with strong, solid leg work.

"Robin and Marian are our first couple eliminated by the judges." Comes Sidney's voice and their circle goes dark.

"Stop smirking and salsa." Regina tells her and Emma instantly changes gears. They haven't done the salsa in competition, but Regina took her through some basic moves that she and Emma go through now.

"Mary Margaret and David are our second couple to be eliminated." Sidney calls as their circle goes dark.

"Now who's smirking." Emma grins. "Samba." She pulls away to come behind Regina, leading her in a series of samba rolls before transitioning into parts of their Disney Night dance.

"Not bad." Regina grins, pulling away to do some kicks before coming back into a tight spin with Emma.

"We've lost Jim and Kathryn." Sidney says, and suddenly the whole dance floor is lit up. "So now, the floor is open."

"Tango." She and Regina say at the same time as they start to move.

"First lift." Regina says and Emma's leg comes up around her waist while Regina spins her around.

"Second." Emma says when they're done, her eyes catching on the two remaining couples who are giving it their all.

Regina drops to her knees and Emma does the flip over her shoulder just like she had with Killian.

"Stealing my moves, Regina?" Killian teases as he lifts Milah up, swinging her from side to side of his hips.

"Improving upon them." Regina sasses back, pulling Emma close and grinding their bodies together.

"Killian and Milah, your time is up." Sidney calls and then it's just Ruby and Peter and she and Regina.

She goes into her split and then is pulled up and brought back down again, but on the other side of the floor, Peter has Ruby in a full out spin, her body flying out from his, and Emma isn't exactly surprised when she hears, "Emma and Regina, you have been eliminated, which makes Ruby and Peter our winners."

The music stops and Emma moves over to Ruby right away, hugging her tightly. "Congratulations!" She laughs.

"Thanks, Em." Ruby grins. "You were pretty damn hot out there, girl."

Emma just laughs.

"That's all for Dancing with the Stars tonight. Tomorrow night we'll be back with our first live results show of the season and our double elimination."

"None of our stars are safe, so make sure you vote!" Tina reminds everyone.

  
The music starts back up and the couples dance around until the cameras finally stop.


	13. Week 9

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The songs they dance to in this chapter are Too Darn Hot by Ella Fitzgerald and Let Her Go by Jasmine Thompson. Their first dance is based off of [Amy Purdy and Derek Hough's Jazz](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=s7qfJGoRKXk) to Too Darn Hot. Their second dance is based off of [Charlie White and Sharna Burgess' Contemporary](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CA4zW4lXkyA) to Let Her Go by Passenger.

******

**WEEK 9**

******

**But I ain't up to my baby tonight**  
**'Cause it's too darn hot**  
**It's too darn hot**  
**It's too darn hot**

******

**Well you only need the light when it's burning low**  
**Only miss the sun when it starts to snow**  
**Only know you love her when you let her go**

******

Even though they're not sure that they've made it to the semi-finals – Emma is refusing to think about the possibility of elimination although it's always there in the back of her mind – they start rehearsals on Tuesday morning because they can't afford to miss out on any practice time.

"We've got jazz and contemporary this week." Regina tells her. "So we've got a lot of work to do. Let's start with jazz."

**

"How are you feeling?" Leroy asks her when he gets her alone for her the first of her on the fly interviews of the week.

"Nervous." Emma admits easily. "Every other week by this point, I knew I was safe. And now I don't. I have to wait until tonight. And that's freaking scary, because I don't want to go home. I don't want to have made it this far and to go out before the semi-finals. And then if I did make it, I don't want to go out on the semi-finals either. Like, at this point, the finals are my only option. They're my only goal."

"Why do you think that is?"

"Because I want to win. I want to win this for Regina, I want to win this for all the fans, for everyone who is voting and supporting us. And I want to win for me. To prove to myself that I can."

Leroy smiles at her and she watches as the little red recording light goes off. "Between me and you, sister? I think you can do it."

Emma smiles. "Thanks, Leroy."

**

The results show is a blur. Emma knows that there are musical performances and montages of the show the night before, but she doesn't process any of it. All she knows is that there is a double elimination tonight and she needs to survive it.

"It's time for our first elimination of the night. Can we have Emma and Regina and Robin and Marian come down here please?"

Emma's heart seizes up in her chest and her grip on Regina's hand is vice-like. No. This cannot be happening.

When they get to the bottom of the steps, Regina stays behind Emma, her arms encircling Emma's waist, holding her. Robin has an arm around Marian's waist, and he's got that smug looking smile on his face that makes Emma want to punch him right in the trachea.

"One of these two couples was the couple with the highest score when the judges points and the viewer votes were tallied. The other will be leaving us tonight." Sidney says and Emma's heart springs back to life in hope, although there's a voice that tells her not to think like that.

"Emma, you chose to take on both Mills sisters in a high energy quickstep. It was a risky move… but it paid off. You're going to the semi-finals!"

Emma jumps up in joy, shouting as she spins to hug Regina, who spins her around, feet off the ground. Beside them, Robin is being told that he's no longer in the competition, but Emma doesn't even notice.

**

Milah and Killian are the other couple that are eliminated at the end of the show, which leaves Jim, Mary Margaret, Ruby, and Emma to compete in the semi-finals.

  
Emma is sad to see Milah and Killian go because she does feel close to them after everything. Killian hugs her and tells her to go take the mirror ball.

"That's the plan," is Emma's reply.

**

Emma ends up back at Regina's after the results show. Everyone else was going out to a club to hang out, but both Emma and Regina had declined the invitations. Regina had said she needed to get Henry to bed and Emma had claimed tiredness, but secretly hoped that she could come hang out with Regina, which is what she did.

"Henry would like you to go say goodnight to him." Regina tells her as she descends the stairs.

Emma sets her wine glass down and gets up. "Sure thing."

She climbs the stairs and goes into Henry's room with a smile. "Hey kid."

"Hey, Emma."

"You all tucked in for the night?"

"Yeah." Henry confirms, then looks at Emma. "I'm really glad you made it through tonight."

Emma laughs. "Me too, kid. Me too."

"You and mom are going to win." He sounds so sure.

"I hope so. I'm gonna work really hard to try to make that happen. And you know your mom is gonna make me work really hard to try to make that happen."

Henry laughs and then there's a bit of silence until Henry yawns and then looks over at her. "What happens after?"

"After what?" Emma asks, sitting down on the edge of his bed.

"After the show is over. Will you go back to Boston?"

Emma blinks. "Well, probably, yes. I mean, that's where I live. That's where my job is."

"But can't you stay here? Get a job here?" Henry sits up then.

"Henry, it's not that easy. There's no guarantee that I could get a job here and I certainly couldn't afford to stay in the apartment I'm living in now."

"When you win, you'll get the money from that. And there'll be endorsement deals and stuff you can do. And – and if that doesn’t work, Mom's got tons of money. You can move in here with us and –"

"Henry." Emma's voice cracks just the littlest bit over his name as she puts her hands on his shoulders. "It doesn't work like that. Not in the real world."

"But – don't you love us?" Henry's on the verge of tears and his emotions aren't helping Emma's.

Two tears slip down her cheeks. "Oh, kid. Of course I do. Besides Lily, you and your mom are the two most important people in my life. I love you both so much." And now she's admitted it out loud to Henry, which she shouldn't have done, but she can't help it. She does love him and his mother with everything she has. She wishes more than anything that she could just do what Henry is asking – move in and live with them in an insta-family. But it doesn't work like that, not for her.

"So why can't you stay?"

"Because realistically, it doesn't work like that, kid. But I promise you, I _promise_ , that I will still keep in touch and I will come to visit. You aren't going to get rid of me that easily."

Henry launches himself at her, hugging her tight. Emma rubs his back, trying to calm him.

"She's so much happier now, since she's met you." He says softly when he pulls back. "She was so distant for a while and then even when she wasn't distant with me anymore, I could tell she was still so sad. But she's not now. I don't want her to lose that."

"I don't either. But I don't think –"

"It is from you, Emma." Henry is certain. "She loves you. I know she does."

"Henry," Emma says and her voice is a little firmer now. "Please, just lay down and go to sleep, okay?"

Henry seems to understand what Emma needs from him and he nods, laying back and closing his eyes. "I love you, Emma." He whispers, his eyes scrunched shut.

Emma leans forward and brushes her lips across his forehead. "I love you too, kid."

Then she stands up and wipes off her cheeks before walking out of the room and going back downstairs to find Regina.

**

Thursday is the first day they work on their contemporary piece. They spend all of Wednesday working on the jazz routine, which Emma loves. It's different from anything they've done so far, but Emma thinks they're going to nail it.

Contemporary is a very different animal though. There are no real hard and fast rules like the other dances. It's all about the emotion of the dance and Emma is once again convinced that Wendy and the rest of the music producers must enjoy inflicting pain on Emma because their son is Let Her Go.

"Contract. Release. Contract. Release." Regina coaches, standing with her hands on Emma's stomach and back and having her work on contracting and then releasing her muscles. "Yes. Right there. That's what I want. That's what you need."

Emma so wants to crack a joke about other muscles that need to contract and release, but she doesn't. She's trying to stay focused to get through to the finals, after all.

"Good, now let's work on that first lift." Contemporary also has a lot of lifts, which Regina is choreographing strictly for her to lift Emma.

"I want to do some of the lifts." Emma insists.

"Emma –"

"I'm strong enough. Honestly, I'm probably stronger than you." Emma counters. "And they keep talking about not being able to tell the celebrity from the pro and they were all excited when I led the tango. I really think we should do them equally. Can you trust me to do them?"

"Of course I trust you." Regina says so quickly and easily that it makes Emma's heart soar and ache at the same time. "Alright. Fine. We'll change the lifts."

**

"Good." Regina says they finish the contemporary routine. "I think we're good for today. We'll pick it up and refine it tomorrow."

Emma wipes sweat off her brow and shakes her head. "Let's run it again. It still feels choppy. It's supposed to flow."

"Emma," Regina touches her shoulders, "we've gotten a lot accomplished today. We still have all of tomorrow to work."

"But tomorrow we need to work on the jazz piece because I'm still getting out of sync in that one leg section." Emma does feel like she needs to run the contemporary dance again, because it's definitely still choppy. But truth be told, she just doesn't want to leave Regina yet.

"So we'll do both tomorrow." Regina says. "You don't need to push yourself this hard, Emma. It's my job to push you and I'm telling you that now you need to relax."

"I need to win, Regina."

"And you won't win if you're injured. We're stopping for tonight. Tomorrow we'll work on the leg section of the jazz and go through the contemporary until we've got it flowing smoothly. But remember when we talked about having fun and not getting bogged down? That's why we need to stop right now."

Emma sighs but agrees. "Okay. Fine. Tomorrow."

**

"What are you doing?" Emma asks as she watches Regina walk over and pick up her phone.

"We're taking a break." Regina says, holding the phone up to her. "This time, I'm in charge of the Dubsmash."

Emma blinks. "Seriously?"

  
"I've got just the thing." She grins, hitting play on the audio. Emma bursts out laughing.

It takes them four tries to record the video because Emma keeps busting up. Regina stays perfectly in character the whole time.

@ReginaMills All of America is rooting for you @EmmaSwan

**

They're doing their jazz routine first, which Emma thinks is best because she's not sure what kind of an emotional state she'll be in after the contemporary and she wants to enjoy the jazz.

They actually have them last in the dancing order though and Emma decides that tonight, she's going to really watch the competition as that – competition.

Mary Margaret and David do a beautiful Viennese Waltz that earns them their first perfect score of the season and Emma can see why they've made it this far. Mary Margaret is totally likeable and she and David have definitely been falling in love over the season, which she's sure America is eating up.

Ruby and Peter do a tango that is incredibly sexy but also shows off what a good dancer Ruby really is. She's got a fire about her that works on the dance floor and Emma knows that her fan base is helping voting wise too.

Jim and Kathryn have a quickstep and Emma is floored by how well he does. She knows he's a soccer player, but to see him so light and quick on his feet is pretty amazing. He leads Kathryn easily and Emma enjoys watching them dance.

They're all great competitors and Emma is proud to be among them. She just hopes she gets to go to the finals against one of them.

**

Emma gets her cue as the music starts and she begins to move towards Regina, who is sitting at the table in the center of the dance floor. She climbs up onto the table, letting her legs swing down. Then the beat kicks in and she shifts across the table in front of Regina, crossing and uncrossing her legs as she goes.

She and Regina play a bit with Regina in front of her, and then Regina spins her around on the table. When she comes to a stop, she is laying flat on the table and Regina has laid down on the floor underneath her. She begins to move up the table, switching legs as she goes, praying that Regina is going at the same pace as her under the table.

When she gets to the top, she's thrilled to see Regina standing up at that end, lifting the table and sending her sliding down the table to the floor. They dance at each end and then move together on one side, both sitting up on the table and then spinning around.

This is the part that Emma had struggled with because their feet had to move perfectly, but now, as she goes through the steps of crossing and kicking, she can tell that they're doing it.

They finish out the number with a few moves on the dance floor and then Regina lifts her up, with Emma's legs both extended out, spinning until they reach the table once again. Emma is deposited on the table and Regina kneels on the floor, looking up at her.

The audience erupts in cheers and Emma hops from the table, pulling Regina up and into a hug. "That was awesome!" She laughs as they head to the judges.

"Emma, Regina, and a very happy table." Sidney cracks as they reach him. "Bravo. Jefferson."

"Too darn good, that's what it was! Every week you keep surpassing yourself with creativity and inventiveness. This was classic jazz at its best. Fantastic."

"Astrid."

"Girl, you were working it. Both of you! That looked like it was so much fun to do and you killed that routine."

"Gold."

"Regina, there have been times throughout your years on this show that I've seen you hold back or go the easy route with choreography. I don't know why, but I think it may involve a little bit of fear. And tonight, it's so clear to me that there was no fear in the room when you created that piece. It was extraordinary and you should be proud. Both of you."

"And Lacey."

"This show is about the moments to me and when you slid down that table, tonight it was one of those moments that you will never forget and the audience will never forget. You have earned your place here, Emma, and I believe you have earned your spot in the finals."

Emma wonders if getting perfect scores will even not feel this thrilling, but somehow, when those paddles all come up with 10s on them, she doubts it.

**

"Are you okay?" Regina asks as they move into the lighted circle where they'll be dancing.

Emma takes in a deep breath and releases it before she looks over at Regina and nods, smiling. "Yeah. I am."

Regina looks at her for a long time and then nods. "Good."

They've gotten the female vocalist to sing the song again tonight and Emma feels goosebumps as the music starts.

Regina is behind her, lifting her hand up and placing a kiss on it before Emma pulls it back. They move together and then Regina reaches around and flips her over. Emma continues on into the next motion as though she was never upside down, leaning back and trusting Regina to catch her as she falls.

She stands up and then runs across the dance floor, dropping to her knee as Regina comes over. This time she lifts Regina up above her head before letting her back down.

They move on the floor, mirroring each other as they fall to the floor and get back up, reaching and pulling. Contracting and releasing. Then Regina lifts Emma up and over her shoulder and Emma rolls off her back to stand up. Regina stands and moves to Emma, who lifts her up and then spins, with Regina laying back in her arms, parallel to the ground. When Regina comes up, she leverages herself on Emma's thigh and steps over her shoulder, stretching back into another pose before Emma stands and spins around, holding her bridal style before placing her back down on the ground.

They move close together, with Emma's hands coming to Regina's cheeks and she's surprised to feel wetness under them. There are tears in Regina's eyes as she grasps Emma's wrists with her hands and pushes her back before turning and moving away as the song fades out.

_And you let her go._

 

The audience is on their feet, screaming for them, but all Emma can do is watch Regina's back.

When she turns back around, there's a smile on her face and it's like she was never crying at all.

"Are you okay?" Emma whispers as they move over to hear the judges' comments, but Regina just smiles at her.

"Of course, dear."

"Emma and Regina with our final dance of the semi-finals. What a great finish. Let's get the judges thoughts. We'll start with Astrid."

"That was poetry in motion. And we've seen it before, but I think dance really show cased, that you two are a perfect match. You're very yin and yang and that union between you is beautiful."

"Gold."

"That dance was fantastic. You two continue to show just how suited you are for each other and for this competition."

"Lacey."

"Emma, you are an artist, when you dance. The attention to detail is incredible. It had a dramatic story arc that you could follow all through the choreography. It transcended technique. That was just astonishing."

"And Jefferson."

"I agree with Lacey. Regina, the choreography was amazing, and Emma, the way that you danced – doing those lifts with Regina. It was phenomenal. No matter what happens tonight and for the rest of the competition, you have to know that you truly are an incredible dancer."

**

Their scores are perfect once again, leading them to have what Tina calls "a perfect night".

And when Regina takes Emma's hand and leads her first to her car, then through her front door, and up into her bedroom, Emma has to agree with her.


	14. Week 10

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The songs they dance to in this chapter are Masterpiece by Jesse J and Billie Jean by Michael Jackson. Their first dance is based off of [Rumer Willis and Valentin Chmerkovskiy's Foxtrot](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qft38MQhy-c) to Take Me To Church by Hozier. Their second dance is a mixture of [this dance from Strictly Come Dancing Ukraine](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=45T3Zgyel14) to Billie Jean and [Corbin Bleu and Karina Smirnoff's Freestyle](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=c1Ru-UHy7qk) to Smooth Criminal by Michael Jackson.

**

**WEEK 10**

******

**I'm not gonna stop  
I like the view from the top (Yeah)**

******

**She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene**  
**I said don't mind, but what do you mean I am the one**  
**Who will dance on the floor in the round**  
**She said I am the one who will dance on the floor in the round**

**

Again they have to wait until Tuesday night to find out who makes it to the finals, but Emma and Regina are in battle mode, ready to go on Tuesday morning.

"So, the dances for the finals are an improved dance and our freestyle. Let's tackle the improved dance first." Regina says as they sit at the breakfast table, eating the incredible omelets that Regina made.

If Henry has any questions about why Emma is there for breakfast with them, he certainly hasn't voiced them. He'd just sat down next to her and asked her to pass the bacon like it was a common occurrence to find her at their breakfast table.

"The Foxtrot." Emma and Henry say at the same time and she looks at him incredulously. "How'd you know that, kid?"

"You felt like you messed it up. All the other dances, even the ones where you got lower scores, you enjoyed and were happy with. You need a chance at redemption with the foxtrot."

"I agree," Regina smiles. "We will go back to work on the foxtrot today. We'll pull up a video of it and go through it to see where we can make improvements."

"You want to wait on the freestyle until after we see if we make it to the finals." Emma surmises, crunching on her bacon.

"I have no doubts that we will make it to the finals."

"But…" Emma drawls.

"However," Regina smirks, "I think we should wait just to be on the safe side."

Emma nods. "Agreed. But I've already got an idea."

"You do?"

"Don't look so surprised! My idea for the trio turned out great."

"I never said otherwise, dear. I'm just surprised you've been thinking about this."

Emma shrugs. "Well, I have."

"Alright. But first things first… the foxtrot."

**

They go to the rehearsal studio and bring up the video there on Regina's laptop. It's hard for Emma to get through watching it the first time, but by the second and third time, she's able to look at it objectively and see all the places she messed up.

"You didn't mess up." Regina keeps insisting, but Emma knows better. "You just got caught up in the emotion. We want that emotion. We just want it a little bit more controlled this time."

Emma looks at Regina sitting next to her and the image of her and Regina dancing together on the screen and she nods. "Yeah. I can do that."

**

Mary Margaret and David are the first to be told they'll be going to the finals.

Ruby and Peter are the second.

She and Regina are left standing with Jim and Kathryn, waiting for Sidney to finally just say the damn words to tell them who the final couple is.

"I'm so stressed out." She whispers to Regina, just wanting to know.

"The couple with the lowest total of viewer votes and judges points and therefore leaving us right now, one week shy of the finals is… Jim and Kathryn."

Emma drops to her knees at the words, tears streaming down her face. She knows she must look so ridiculous, but she can't help it. They've made it. They've done it.

Regina pulls her up and into a hug, holding her tightly. "You're okay. We're okay."

"I couldn't have done this with anyone but you." Emma says into her hair, holding her tightly. "We made it to the finals!"

"I'm so happy for you." Regina says as she pulls back to look at Emma.

"You too." Emma insists. "You made it too. Not just me. Not me without you."

And Regina's smile is so beautiful, Emma feels like she's already won the mirror ball.

**

"So, for the freestyle, we can do whatever we want. It's the last dance that is voted on by the audience. It's about bigger and better and larger than life productions." Regina says as they sit down to discuss the freestyle.

"And you've done that in the past. And it's worked." Emma nods, understanding where Regina is coming from. "But I don't want that for us. I want this freestyle to be just us. You and me, together. That's what's brought us this far. That's how I want to win. Not by having a whole troupe of dancers backing us up or fireworks or anything like that. Just you and me. Dancing."

Regina gives her another one of those looks that she can't quite decipher and then smiles.

"Alright. So tell me this idea of yours."

**

They are scheduled for one more live all access rehearsal on Friday before the live show. They decide they don't want to give anything away, so they'll do a thirty minute live stream where they answer questions.

"Hey Swan Queen fans." Emma greets them. "We're taking a little bit of a break from working our freestyle routine to come say hey to you guys one more time. We're not going to show you any of our routine because we want it to be a surprise, but we will answer questions, so get tweeting."

"While we're waiting," Regina says, sitting down beside Emma, "we just want to take the time to thank you all for all of your love and support."

"Yeah, you guys have been amazing and we know we wouldn't have gotten this far without you. So thank you, from the bottom of our hearts. We love you."

"Alright. Let's answer some questions." Regina begins looking through her phone. "What has been your favorite dance?"

"Oh, wow. I think our rumba – getting our first perfect score – that was really special to me. And our jazz routine was so fun. But I honestly think that my favorite of all of them was our Disney Night samba."

Regina laughs at that. "For me, I think it was our contemporary piece last week. You were a revelation in that dance, for me and for the audience, I believe."

Emma blushes at the compliment and quickly looks down at her phone. "What are you going to do after the show is over? You know, I haven't really thought that far yet. Mostly, I've just been focusing on this. But I think, the first thing I'm going to do, is just sleep in. And then I'll go from there."

"Do you think you'll still dance?" Regina asks and it's not a question from Twitter, but one from her.

"I don't know. I've grown to love it, so I feel like yes, I will. But then, without you… I don't know if it would be the same."

Now Regina looks down at her phone, clearing her throat before reading the next question. "What have you learned from each other this season?"

"Oh wow. Well, there's the dancing obviously. But really, I think Regina has taught me so much about trust. I wasn't a very trusting person before this experience, but she's taught me that it's okay to trust people and to be vulnerable. And I've learned so much about what a mom is supposed to be from her too, seeing her interactions with her son. Just, those real life type lessons."

"Emma showed me how to have fun again. She showed me that it's okay to be weak sometimes because other people will be strong. And she taught me about bravery and strength and determination every day."

"Well," Emma sighs, "after that, we need a lighter question! And here's a great one. What Dubsmash do you want to do but haven't yet?"

Regina laughs. "You know that I am not a fan of those silly videos."

"She totally is." Emma grins. "The Tyra Banks ones? All her idea."

"Emma!" Regina slams their shoulders together.

"I wanted to do the lift scene from Dirty Dancing, but she wouldn't." Emma says, laughing.

"I honestly do not have an answer."

"She so has an answer. She just won't admit it to you."

They get the motion from Leroy that they only have a few minutes left. "Okay, we've gotta wrap this up and get back to work so that our freestyle is amazing for you. So we'll take one more question and then we have to go. Let's see here… oh. Will you keep in touch after the show?"

Regina looks at her and then at the cameras. "Of course we will."

Emma smiles. "Of course we will. Bye guys! We love you!"

**

"What if I can't do this?" Emma murmurs as she looks at herself in the floor length mirror of the dressing room. She's wearing the same costume from the first time they danced the foxtrot – the long black dress that she really does love – and she can feel her nerves rising.

"You can." Regina says, as though she completely believes. "You have come this far, Emma. You can't quit now. You and I both know you can do this. We both know you need to do this. So come on. Let's go do it."

**

"Stay with me, Emma." Regina whispers just before they start, a reminder of that first time they'd done this dance. But this time, Emma nods, smiling. This time, Emma will stay with her.

The music begins and they start to move. Emma is focused and determined. As she dances, she thinks of the journey that she has gone through in these past three months and she thinks of Regina and it's just there. The dance is there and it's so easy to dance it now, so easy to let her emotions show without breaking down.

This is her masterpiece. Her and Regina together. It's the best thing that's ever happened to her. And tonight, she's going to show America that.

This time, she smiles as she goes through the steps, keeping Regina's gaze and smiling with joy at what they are creating. When the music ends and they are in their final stance, hands on each other's faces, she leans back and laughs.

"Emma and Regina! Great job! Alright you guys. Jefferson."

"No nonsense. Absolutely pure ballroom bliss. I tell you that now, you are, by your own merit, dancing royalty. The Swan Queen has emerged."

Astrid looks at them both with a huge smile and tears in her eyes. "The first time you did this dance I know that there were issues. But even then it was beautiful. Tonight though, you've shown, really, how far you've come as a dancer. There was nothing else going on except pure, exquisite dancing. And it was flawless."

"Well, the first time you did this dance, I told you that it wasn't a masterpiece to me. Tonight, I can tell you that it was. Phenomenal." Gold claps for them and Emma feels the tears start to fall again.

"Gold is right," Lacey chimes in, "tonight this was a masterpiece. And I know the first time you did this dance that your emotions got the better of you, but tonight, this time, you showcased them so beautifully. This was a journey and this dance proved that. Congratulations."

They earn another perfect score and Emma finally feels the weight of the foxtrot lift off her shoulders. Now it's on to the freestyle.

**

The ballroom is dark except for the screens lit up with their package. Emma is trying not to watch it, but she can't help but tune in to the last clip of her in one of her interviews.

"To win with Regina. To know that we did this together. That would blow me away."

The screens go dark then and the ballroom is in complete darkness. Emma hears the click of Regina walking and then a spotlight appears, bathing her in light. She's wearing a black suit with a black fedora and when the light hits her, she goes through a quick succession of movements that ends with a turn.

Then Emma walks forward, her own heels clicking in the ballroom. A spotlight lands on her, showing off her white suit and fedora. She goes through the same movements as Regina, ending facing back forward.

Then they turn and walk towards each other, the spotlights following. The music starts and with just the first beats, the audience is screaming. Emma grins as her hand goes to her pelvis, she and Regina both thrusting to the side in time with the beats.

 

_She was more like a beauty queen from a movie scene_

The audience begins to clap along as they move to the beat, emulating Michael Jackson in their movements. They move around each other, playing and teasing as they go, until Regina moves into Emma's space and she begins to moonwalk – in heels! – back with Regina following. The audience screams their joy.

When she makes it across the ballroom, she takes Regina's hand and begins to move forward in a cha-cha, then Regina spins her. They push back and forth until Regina reaches forward and grabs Emma's shirt, pulling it out much to the audience's delight.

It's a break away dickie that leaves Emma in a black bikini top and her white suit jacket. She spins away and Regina pulls off her break away pants, leaving her in her black heels and black tights. She reaches up and pulls off her fedora, tossing it to Henry in the audience and letting her blonde curls cascade down.

Regina grabs her and spins her around, Emma leaning against her as she flares her legs out to walk around Regina's body. Emma then turns out, their arms connected and they go through the wave with their bodies.

With a grin, she lets go and they both turn to each other, leaning forward to do the signature Michael lean in. It had taken a lot of practice, but they do it, leaning forward until their foreheads touch. Then they roll back up and grab hands, facing away from each other and then using their outside legs to pivot back to facing each other.

Regina then grabs Emma's hands and they do a slide under her legs. Emma stands up and holds onto Regina, wrapping her legs around Regina's waist. They end the dance with a final lift where Regina flips Emma over and she ends up on her floor with Regina's hat in her hand. She puts it on and winks at the cameras.

The audience goes ballistic. It's louder applause than they've ever heard and Emma jumps up, still wearing Regina's hard and laughing.

"Emma and Regina!" Sidney hugs them both and then they turn their attention to the judges.

Jefferson is up out of his seat, clapping for them. "You two have got the perfect partnership. Every move and every intention… sharply in focus. Used to maximum effect. Un.be.liev.a.ble. Michael would be proud."

"This night is off the charts!" Astrid exclaims when it's her turn. "These freestyles are on fire and you… As a judge I'm looking at many things and I think about it and I critique it, and I appreciate things, but when I watch you, I watch you just as a dancer. And you are the dancer's dancer. And you are incredible. I just love watching you dance."

"Take and chance and just dance." Gold singsongs. "No group of people, no crazy gimmicks. Just straight into the performance. That's what I love about the two of you. You were able to entertain us without any tricks. It was all you. And it was incredibly well done."

"Emma, earlier we saw you do your foxtrot again and I was thinking about what you said that night in your package, about how you always felt like a lost little girl. And I am here to tell you tonight that yes, you may always be an orphan, but you are not that lost little girl anymore." Lacey tells her with conviction. "You are a strong, fierce, woman who has finally found her place in the world. And tonight, getting to watch you in this freestyle, it was fun and entertaining yes, but it was also raw and real and honest. It was everything that both of you represent together. It was so on point. And that is what a freestyle is."

"Fabulous comments and let's go directly to your scores." Sidney grins.

All the judges at the same time raise their paddles and shout it out. "10!"

Regina picks Emma up and spins her around as Sidney begins to prattle on. "This is your last chance to pick your champions. Tomorrow night our winners will be revealed. So everyone go vote!"

**

"Oh. Wow." Emma murmurs as they walk into the dance studio to practice their final dance of the season – the 24 hour fusion dance – only to find giant pictures of themselves hung on the wall. Each one showcases a moment from one of their different dances.

She moves over to see them, tears welling in her eyes. They look so beautiful in these pictures, these moments frozen in time.

"Look at us." Emma whispers and she suddenly begins to cry.

"Hey. Hey. What's wrong?" Regina grabs her shoulders, turning her to meet her gaze.

"I just realized that this is it. After this... We're done."

Regina pulls her into an embrace, just holding her for the longest time. When they finally pull back, Regina wipes tears from Emma's cheeks and looks at her with an intensity that Emma doesn't understand.

"After this, the competition will be over." Regina says, finally. "But we won't be done."

"Regina –" Emma begins to protest, but Regina shakes her head.

"We'll worry about that tomorrow. For tonight, let's just do what we do best."

Emma can't resist, she wiggles her eyebrows.

"I meant _dancing_ , Emma." She says as she moves to take Emma into hold.

Emma laughs.


	15. The Results

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> The song they dance to in this chapter is Shut Up and Dance by Walk The Moon. Their dance is based off of [Alfonso Ribeiro and Witney Carson's Cha Cha Argentine Tango Fusion](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cw7J_R_nyWc) to the same song.

**

**THE RESULTS**

******

**This woman is my destiny**  
**She said, "Ooh-ooh-hoo,**  
**Shut up and dance with me."**

******

"Twelve celebrities. Ten weeks of competition. Tonight, it all comes down to one. Welcome to the finale of Dancing With The Stars."

From the time Sidney speaks those words, everything blurs for Emma. It doesn't come back into focus until she and Regina are standing on the dance floor, ready to do their final dance.

Before they can though, they have to show a package of their journey, and this time, both she and Regina watch it, holding on to each other.

There are clips of their time on the show, various dances and judges' comments, as well as rehearsal footage. And then it cuts to the last interview that Emma had done with Leroy, at nearly one o'clock in the morning the night before.

"I'm so grateful for Regina. I've never really had anyone that's believed in me the way that she has through this journey. She has changed my life and made it so much better, because now I finally found my place in this world. I know where I belong. And it's all thanks to her. I love her for that. I always will."

Regina squeezes her hand and looks like she's going to say something, but then it cuts to her interview on the screen.

"I've been trying to find a parallel for what this experience has been like and as cliché as it may be, to me, it's been like a fairy tale. Emma was an expected gift that I was given that has changed me for the better. I feel like every fairytale has a happy ending and raising that mirror ball with her will be the happiest ending of all."

Emma squeezes her tightly, pressing a quick kiss against the crown of her head.

The package ends with Emma's voice over video footage of them practicing for the last time. "This has been the best experience of my life. I don't think I've ever worked harder for anything in my life. And I think the partnership that we have and the connection that we have – I think we can win."

The music starts and for the last time, they move towards each other.

**

The dance is honestly the most fun that Emma has had on the show. They decided the night before that they wouldn't worry about the score, they would only worry about having fun and that's what they've done.

It's a Cha-Cha Argentine Tango fusion and they've mixed their favorite parts of both together. There are a few tricks, but for the most part it's just straight dancing, which has served them well.

Emma smiles the entire time and as she hears the line _this woman is my destiny_ she knows it’s the truth. No matter what happens tonight, it doesn't matter. What matters is that she was destined to meet Regina and now she has.

"Congratulations. Great final dance." Sidney tells them when they reach him. "Let's find out what the judges have to say about your dancing one last time. Jefferson?"

"It is amazing to see how dance has transformed you. You really have become an utterly irresistible shining, big star!"

"What is best about you two," Astrid says, "is that you love to dance together. And that makes us love to watch you. It's been my privilege and my pleasure to watch you dance together this season and tonight was no different. The emotional connection you two have to each other and to the dance… you're just the real deal."

Gold smiles. "This season has been like a wonderful novel. There have been so many twists and turns, high times and low times and it's gone on and on and we're finally on the last page. And I still don't know who is going to win tonight. But I do know that you deserve to, dearies. Both of you."

"And lastly, Lacey."

"It was super tight, super clean. Your connection together – you would've thought that you had practiced this dance for weeks instead of one night. Fantastic job. You are brilliant."

"Let's get your scores."

"One more time, everyone." Jefferson calls and then they all hold up their paddles.

All 10s.

They are perfect one more time.

**

"Alright, now let's get down to business." Sidney says after the commercial. The three couples are all standing on the dance floor in spotlights. Emma holds to Regina's hand and tries to stay calm.

"Our 3 finalists have done everything they could to win the trophy; I think that's clear. So let's give them some results."

Tina takes over. "Having combined the judges' scores from last night and tonight with your votes from last night, we will now reveal the couple who will fall short of the title, landing in third place."

"The couple in third place is…. Ruby and Peter!"

The audience cheers wildly for them and Emma moves to hug Ruby. "I love you." She whispers into her ear.

"You're gonna win." Ruby whispers back and smiles before pulling away and heading over to their final interview with Sidney and Tina.

There's a commercial break, of course, so they have to stand there longer, fidgeting and waiting. And then, finally, they're back and Sidney is speaking again.

"After 13 weeks of training, 15 professional dances, we can now reveal our new champions."

"After combining all the judges' scores from last night and tonight with your viewer votes, we have the final results. Good luck to both of you." Tina says.

"Mary Margaret and David, Emma and Regina, the winners and new champions of Dancing with the Stars are…"

The audience is screaming so loud that for a second, Emma fears that they won't be able to even hear when Sidney does finally announce the names. And then everything seems to go completely silent as he says…

"Emma and Regina!"

**

The roar that goes up when their names are announced is unlike anything Emma has heard before. It's like a tidal wave, breaking right over them, startling in its intensity.

And then, before Emma even has a chance to react, there's another wave crashing over her – this time, a wave of bodies. All the pros and celebrities are rushing at them, grabbing them, hugging them, and she's suddenly being lifted up in the air on Killian and Peter's shoulders and all she can do is hold on and search for Regina in the crowd.

A moment later, she catches sight of her as Billy and Sean lift her up and Emma's hands reach out, trying to grasp her. Their fingers clasp and they lean back and laugh as they hold on to each other, like queens on their thrones, sitting above the cheering crowd.

Then they're being lowered back to the ground for the presentation of the mirror ball trophy. Sidney has it in his grasp and is moving towards them.

"Ladies and gentlemen, it's time to award the trophy. Emma Swan and Regina Mills, the champions of Dancing with the Stars!"

Emma goes to reach forward and take the trophy, but instead, she finds herself being pulled into Regina's arms. She looks at her in confusion before Regina reaches up and takes a hold of her face. "Emma." Regina is saying but Emma can't hear her, can only see her lips moving. "I love you."

Emma gasps, praying with everything she has that she read Regina's lips correctly. Regina confirms that she did a moment later when she pulls Emma into a kiss right in front of the cameras for everyone to see.

As their lips meet, streamers and confetti explode from behind them, raining down around them, along with more shouts, but Emma doesn't care about anything, not even the mirror ball trophy at this point.

All she cares about is kissing Regina back.

**

When they finally pull away from each other, the cameras have stopped rolling, but everyone is still screaming and cheering. Emma feels someone bang into her and looks down to find Henry, hugging her tightly around the waist.

"I knew it! I knew it!" He's shouting.

Emma reaches down and pulls him up so that he's resting on her hip. He's heavy, for sure, but then Regina is there, taking some of his weight onto her, and they're all just hugging and everything is perfect.

It only gets better when Sidney finally manages to hand the mirror ball trophy off to them. Henry takes it and holds it above his head in triumph while Emma and Regina just watch it all gleefully.

**

Social media and the press are blowing up and everyone want to talk to them, but all that Emma wants to do is get Regina alone for five minutes so she can actually hear the words that she's been waiting for and say them back.

The craziness doesn't stop until they finally make it safely into the club where the finale party is being held and even then, Emma gets separated from Regina and Henry.

"Girl, you've gotta tell me all about you and Regina, right now!" Ruby demands as she grabs Emma's arm.

In the background, Emma can hear the music beginning to play and a wide smile stretches across her face as she sees Regina moving away from the DJ with a smile of her own.

"Rubes, I promise I'll fill you in sometime. But right now, I wanna dance with somebody who loves me."

"I think you mean somebodies." Henry grins as he holds out his hands to take both his mother's and Emma's.

"That," Emma says, spinning him close under one arm and Regina in under the other, kissing first his forehead and then Regina's lips, "is exactly what I mean."

_Yeah, I wanna dance with somebody_  
_With somebody who loves me_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And they all lived happily ever after... or something. :)
> 
> Thanks for sticking with me through this crazy journey. I hope you enjoyed it!


End file.
